Phở is probably the most well-known dish of Vietnam. It’s also the most commonly incorrectly pronounced culinary item in the world – at least that’s my guess! It’s not pronounced like the word ‘foe,’ but f in ‘foe’ added to the o in ‘of.’ For Jersey folks, one could say it’s like the ‘fuh’ in ‘fuhgettaboutit.’ Phở is usually best when got from one of the zillions of Phở restaurants around. There”s a broth that’s cooked for hours and hours with beef, star anise, cinnamon and other spices. It’s then accompanied by different thinly sliced cuts of beef or chicken or meatballs. The Bò in Phở Bò translates to beef. You usually also get bean sprouts, sweet basil, jalapeno , and onion. Condiments can include sriracha, fish sauce and hoisin sauce. Lots of ingredients and lots of fun to eat! Let’s see how this instant version is and have a look under the hood.
Here’s detail of the side panels (click image to enlarge). Looks to be meat free but check for yourself. To prepare, add sachet contents to bowl. Add boiling water to fill line and let steep for 3 minutes. Stir and enjoy!
Detail of the lid (click image to enlarge).
An included fork!
The rice noodle block. Very broad rice noodle.
The powdered soup base sachet.
A very light powder.
A seasoned oil sachet.
Looks to be a lightly seasoned oil.
The vegetable sachet.
Lots of little bits and pieces going on here.
Finished (click image to enlarge). Added sukiyaki beef, lime, sweet onion and Texas Pete Sriracha Cha! chilli sauce. The noodles are flat and broader than the rice noodles usually accompanied by the kind at a restaurant. They are nice though and very palatable with a very comfort food kind of appeal. The broth has a nice flavor to it – richer than I expected and heartier too because of the oil. The veggie sachet also had hidden treasure – textured vegetable protein! Little TVP fake beef bits float around happily, although they seem to be like bits of gristle. Overall, a well done bowl of instant pho. 3.75 out of 5.0 stars.UPC bar code 8934563220143.
Whoa! Noodle Chef Nonjas! That’s too awesome.
