How about some Pho. Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup. It's addicting. 2002 wast he first time I had it. I was in Orlando for a week and a Chinese girl I was seeing took me to a Vietnamese restaurant on East Colonial drive. I went back every day for the remainder of my stay. Sometimes twice a day. I was hooked on Pho. The items from the garden were onions and garlic.
With Pho it's all about the broth. You can use a store bought broth or a seasoning mix but they do not compare with simmering bones with spices for hours. I simmered bones with ginger, onion, star anise, cardamon, cloves, cinnamon, and coriander for about 18 hours before straining the broth, adding fish sauce, and assembling the bowls.
I get boxes of frozen bones from Smart Food Service. They're around $20 for a 25 lb box.
Thinly sliced eye of round. I buy them whole at Smart Food Service as well. This cut also makes great beef jerky. It helps with the slicing if you freeze it slightly.
Getting everything ready to assemble. The rice noodles have been pre-soaked and will take less than a minute in boiling water to be ready. The hot broth will finish them off in the bowl and cook the meat. Pretty simple ingredients. Meat, rice noodles, sliced onion, sliced green onion, bean sprouts, Thai basil, and some lime. Some use Sriracha or hoisin sauce. I opted not to add anything else as the broth was too good to cover up the flavor with anything else. I put the bottles out since it makes for a better photo op.
And it's soup time. My lady said it was the best Pho she's ever had. She also said that about my Pad Thai. I'm not even going to try being modest. I'm a damn good cook.
