Homemade Vietnamese soup is simply pho-bulous

You can make Vietnam’s favourite soup at home,

“Whenever I fire up my stove and start charring the ginger and onion or shallot, that fragrance takes me right back to Vietnam,” author Andrea Nguyen says of cooking pho in her California kitchen.

Nguyen’s first taste of the Vietnamese noodle soup remains one of her clearest childhood memories. It was 1974, and at five years old she enthusiastically polished off a bowl at her parents’ favourite stall in Saigon.

In The Pho Cookbook, Nguyen’s sixth book, she explores the dish’s history and many variations.

Ten core pho recipes vary from those requiring little time commitment (Quick Chicken Pho), to more involved, traditional interpretations (Saigon-Style Beef Pho).

Rounding out the collection are toppings, garnishes and sauces; sidekicks such as pot stickers, rolls and Vietnamese coffee; pho-inspired recipes for salads and fried rice; and different treatments of wide rice noodles.

Vietnam’s signature dish “has moved from the margins to the mainstream,” Nguyen writes. She attributes this, in part, to a maturing Vietnamese diaspora. Successive generations “are spreading the good news of pho.”

Everyone loves noodle soup, she adds — it’s one of the world’s most universal comfort foods. Pho is satisfying — its broth flavourful, healthful and soothing. There are also few rules with pho, she says, which makes it “friendly” as well as delicious.

“Pho is very democratic, and always has been. I think it’s because it was born out of a coming together of different cultures. Even though it’s Vietnamese, it still has a very open quality,” Nguyen says.

“The biggest obstacle for people may be, ‘How do you pronounce it?’ (‘fuhh?’). Beyond that, you can use whatever herbs (you like). You can have it with sriracha and hoisin sauce, or not. You can have it vegetarian; or with chicken, beef or even seafood if you want to. You can have it your way.” Recipes reprinted with permission from The Pho Cookbook: Easy to Adventurous Recipes for Vietnam’s Favorite Soup and Noodles by Andrea Nguyen, Ten Speed Press

JOHN LEE “Great for pho beginners, this recipe is also terrific for cooks in a hurry. It involves less than 45 minutes, during which you’ll doctor up store-bought broth,” Andrea Nguyen writes of her quick chicken pho recipe.