This weekend, I took an adventure through an exotic food lover’s heaven, the Hong Kong Supermarket. If you don’t love cooking already, this place will inspire you. It has a farmer’s market vibe with all the freshest fruits and veggies, but the meat and seafood is where it’s at. With live shellfish and exotic cuts of meat and organs, a walk through the market is like visiting a foreign land sans the plane ticket. Though exciting, all the newness was a little intimidating. Where to start, where to start…

I settled on attempting a dish I had never made at home before but had been a long time favorite of mine: pho. If you don’t already know, pho is a Vietnamese brothy soup filled with noodles and meat or whatever else your heart desires. I didn’t really know where to begin with attempting my own recipe, so I did what any clueless college student does and googled it. All the recipes I saw seemed really complex and included a ton of spices and ingredients I’d never heard of before. Luckily, I was at the perfect place to find all those things. And better yet, the Hong Kong Supermarket has “for dummies” type premade ingredients for pho beginners.

All the recipes I saw seemed really complex and included a ton of spices and ingredients I’d never heard of before. Luckily, I was at the perfect place to find all those things. And better yet, the Hong Kong Supermarket has “for dummies” type pre-made ingredients for pho beginners.

While I’m certainly not close to being a pho expert, this recipe is simple, delicious, and incredibly fun. Plus, it’ll give you an excuse to leave the Emory bubble and go see a different side of the beautiful city we live in.

 

Pho

  • Prep Time:30 minutes
  • Cook Time:2 hours
  • Total Time:2 hours 30 minutes
  • Servings:2 large servings
  • Easy

    Ingredients

  • 2 28 oz. cans pho bac beef broth
  • 8 oz bahn pho noodle
  • 1/2 lbs sliced eye round steak
  • 1/4 cup pho spice medley
  • 4 inch root ginger
  • 1 white onion
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon fish sauce
  • 1-2 limes, to serve
  • 1 cup bean sprouts, to serve
  • 1/4 cup fresh basil, to serve
  • Hoisin sauce, chili paste, to serve
  • Step 1

    Prepare ginger and onion by quartering and placing on baking sheet with vegetable oil. Broil for about 5 minutes.

    Photo courtesy of upacreekwithoutapatl.blogspot.com
  • Step 2

    Heat both cans of broth in a pot on medium heat.

     

    Photo by Isabella Gordy
  • Step 3

    Add spice medley, ginger, onion, fish sauce, soy sauce to broth. Let simmer for around 2 hours.

     

    Photo by Isabella Gordy
  • Step 4

    Cook noodles according to package directions. Place in bowl to serve. Place slices of raw steak on top of noodles.

     

    Photo by Isabella Gordy
  • Step 5

    Strain the broth mixture to remove herbs and solids.

     

    Photo by Isabella Gordy
  • Step 6

    Pour broth over noodles and steak to serve. This will cook the meat.

     

    Photo by Isabella Gordy
  • Step 7

    Add basil, lime, bean sprouts to serve.

    Photo by Isabella Gordy