This is not a recipe. Nah. Instead, this is advice to go alongside whatever recipe you might be following.*
This is that good good advice you need when you’re approaching making phở. Cause let’s be real, there’s hella recipes out there. But there isn’t yung Auntie Lan’s advice that accompanies those recipes. But here it is. This is the advice. This is the condensed version of some the og og tips that Lan lmk about.
‘Look...’ Lan began,
All the recipes tryna get to broth.
The magic happens in the 8th hour. If you go 4 hours 6 hours okay – but 8th hour. That means you gotta do a 10pm to a 6am situation or do early morning crew.
General queen status on spices is to add those elements in the last hour.
Fish sauce also at the last hour.
Okay. Rice noodles.
The key with rice noodles is to rinse them 3 times fully.
And fresh!
Fresh rice noodles!
The last hour is chaos – it’s the aromatics, the meat, and the noodle politic.
When you boil the noodle, and cool the noodle, there should be no film, no pudding, no janky.
Okay herb world - the differences come (historically) from where you are.
In the north, where there’s a winter, you can serve with just green onion and lime, maybe some cilantro if you got it. Thai basil and all that, hoison sauce, sriracha, is in the south cause regional variety availability.
Other tips
- Fish sauce is also salt
- Sugar rocks. Basically idea is less refined sugar form, og auntie shit but you could use brown sugar with restraint
- Spices, all 5 for beef
- For chickie, you hone in on 2 or 3
- Toast the spicesssssss
- Grill/bake ginger and onion