Phở Not Pho

I'm extremely fortunately to live in an area rich in multiculturalism...aka, there are heaps of excellent restaurants featuring cuisine from, quite literally, all over the world. We have Ethiopian, Malaysian, French, Chinese (and Australian Chinese - a special breed of Chinese restaurant) and my current favourite; Vietnamese. More specifically phở restaurants. You can buy a huge bowl of phở plus a beer for $10. How good is that?

Incidentally, it's pronounced something like 'fuh' and never 'fo'. The fo pronunciation, allegedly, means prostitute. Asking for a  pho bo instead of a phở bo is asking for a beef prostitute....unless you're into that kind of thing...

In addition to the restaurants, we also have a few asian markets and grocery stores. These are great places to check out. You'll have absolutely no idea what a lot of the stuff is or even how to use it, but it's a great experience. I was in one such shop on the weekend and I came across this little gem:


So naturally, I had to give it a whirl. Makes 2 serves.

Ingredients:
1 phở seasoning cube
2-3 cups boiling water
150g flat rice noodle
150g steak thinly sliced*
1 small white onion, sliced
2 spring onions, sliced
a good pinch of coriander
a handful of bean sprouts.
1 small red chili.
Putting it all together:
Dissolve the phở cube in 2 cups of boiling water. Once dissolved, taste and if necessary, add the third cup or as much as you prefer.

While that's simmering, soak rice noodle in hot water as per directions on the pack.

Separate the noodles into 2 bowls, add the meat and onions,p our phở juice over the top of it all, top with coriander, sprouts, and chili.

Dig in and enjoy.