Voting is now open for Challenge #2!

Read all about my first experience with Pho here.

Vote here!

Thanks again for all of your support and getting me to Challenge #2!

I had to have more Pho and I had to have it now. But we went out because the recipes were overwhelming, it takes too long to make and it is dirt cheap in restaurants. Oxtails? Beef knuckles? Star Anise Pods? Where do I even buy such things?

Then came the news that I had made it to Challenge #2 for the Project Food Blog and the challenge was a classic dish from a culture you aren’t familiar with.  There was no question in my mind and I’d be making Pho sooner than I thought.

Pho is a dish that I have never made or never attempted, but if you follow me on twitter, you know that I dedicated a whole day to finding the perfect Pho restaurant in Minneapolis and recipe, only to decide the recipe was a little too much work. I normally don’t take the easy way out, but a dish that requires over a day to prepare is a little much for my healthy, simple and delicious mantra.

But there was a challenge and I had a recipe, so the cooking process began with the broth. As the onion and ginger were browning, and the meat simmering with water, I started to smell the Pho and my worries of it not turning out faded away. The aroma coming from the broth was so enticing I almost didn’t want to wait for the next day to start slurping.

The ample soup is spicy, savory, filling and fresh tasting all served up in an oversized bowl with chopsticks and an asian soup spoon. One of the reasons I love Pho, and Vietnamese cuisine, for that matter is because the majority of the seasoning is done at the table, to your own taste. Need more sriracha? A little more hoisin? It’s all there.

The components are layered in a deep bowl – the short ribs, the beef, the noodles and finally the broth. Then the toppings and flavorings are all up to you. My favorites are lime, bean sprouts, jalapeño slices, fresh basil and mint. Oh and lots of sriracha.

How did the pho turn out? It didn’t taste exactly the same as in the Restaurants, and I may be lacking some Vietnamese cuisine experience, but that just means I’ve got some experimenting to do in the kitchen, and that’s something I’m perfectly fine with.

Voting begins Monday!