Vietnamese Pho Soup

Aaron was hungry for this the other day and searched online for a recipe. It was so filling and delicious!

This is a popular soup in Vietnam, pronounced "FO". Granted the recipe calls for things you may not have already in your pantry, but Aaron thought that it wasn't that difficult to make. He wasn't strict on the measurements, and just kind of went by if it smelt good and right. : )

Basically you bring the broth to a boil and then simmer it for 30 mins. Meanwhile you can soak the rice noodles for 10 mins. Then cook them according to package directions, rinse and set them aside. Slice the scallions, onions, peppers, cilantro and place with other garnishes (bean sprouts, basil sprigs, lemon or lime quarters) in a serving bowl or bowls.

To serve: Divide noodles among 4 to 6 large individual serving bowls. Arrange thinly sliced raw beef, scallions, onion, and cilantro on top. Pour boiling hot broth to cover noodles and serve immediately. The boiling broth will cook the thin slices of beef.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:
Beef Broth:
1 small onion, chopped
2 tsp minced ginger
3-4 cans of beef broth
8 cups water
A pinch of Anise
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 pound lean, tender beef - DON'T COOK, SLICE THINLY AND SET ASIDE. The boiling broth poured over it when you serve it will cook it.

Noodles:
1 16-ounce package dry, flat rice noodles (pho)

Garnishes: (Pick and choose the ones you want.)
3 scallions, thinly sliced
1 large onion, thinly sliced
10 cilantro sprigs, finely chopped
1 cup bean sprouts
10 sprigs basil
fresh red or green chile pepper, thinly sliced
10 sprigs fresh culantro (ngo gai) or CILANTRO
*Culantro is a leafy herb with a similar aroma to cilantro, although more pungent. If unavailable, increase the amount of cilantro or simply leave out.

Other Accompaniments: (Optional)
lime or lemon quarters
fish sauce
hoisin sauce
hot chile sauce

Recipe Reprinted with permission from The Vietnamese Cookbook, by Diana My Tran.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Okay Rachelle, here is CJ's sweet and sour recipe. I don't know about you guys, but we love American Chinese food, but are too cheap to order takeout. So, we make it ourselves. CJ found this recipe online when I was sick pregnant with Ellie and not cooking. I didn't try it the first few times he made it (for obvious reasons of not wanting to be trying it again a few hours later), but now it is a favorite of the whole family. I love to serve it with alot of steamed broccoli (I steam it with the rice) and this time I made the fried rice to go with it. One of these days I will go all out and make my mother-in-laws spring rolls too. I will have to do that in the summer, however, when we are really active and can burn of all that oil.

Notes on the recipe. Don't add all the soy sauce at once, do a little at a time in case you don't like it too strong. For the pineapple juice, just buy a can of pineapple, use that juice, and then I like to put chunks of pineapple in the sauce. I also cut my meat pretty small to make sure it cooks all the way. Enjoy!

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Batter:

1 egg

1/3 c. milk

1/2 c. flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

mix well and then add pork or chicken, cut to bite size pieces.

(this amount of batter will do about 2 chicken breasts, depending on the size)

Using fork to take pieces out, put in pan of hot oil to fry til golden brown. Take out and put on plate with paper towel.

Sauce:

1/2 c. sugar

1/4 c. white vinegar

1/4 c. pineapple juice (I use more)

2 Tbs soy sauce

1/4 c. water

2 Tbs cornstarch (or more, just mix with a little water, and add to boiling sauce til thickens)
Simmer sauce while you cook meat.