Fur or Foe?

My parents are back already, but when they weren't here, I did actually attempt to cook... and it lasted for a couple of days, so it was quite worth it.

Prior to this, BT invited me over to her fiance's place for a briefing on her wedding plans thus far, and he made pho for us. I must say, it felt rather strange because it's not often that a friend will be so good as to cook food for guests... most catch ups tend to happen outside and over restaurant/cafe food. That was the inspiration to make my very own pho.

From 117___05

It wasn't hard because I didn't do it the authentic way, which probably involves boiling a broth over a couple of days.... there was this chunk of frozen meat in the freezer and all along I wasn't sure if it was beef or pork. I blame my dad- he told me there's heaps of frozen pork in the freezer and that I should use it up when I can. Never said anything about beef, yet when I looked at the meat, it looks a lot like beef to me.

From 117___05

Just to be safe though, I ended up cooking the meat more than I usually do. I like beef rare, this.... is not rare.

From 117___05

The broth is really just beef stock with star anise, cinnamon stick, fish sauce, lime juice and onions. I know people tend to put onions afterwards, but if I must eat onions, they gotta be cooked. Not just briefly, they need to be so soft they'd just melt.

From 117___05

Of course, tao ge~

From 117___05

Basil leaves, just for that extra fragrance~

From 117___05

Home grown chilli, cut straight off the plant in the backyard.

From 117___05

Final product! I added heaps of hoisin sauce as well... I really like how pho is so versatile, you can add this and that to your own liking. Even the meat's rarity... is that how you say it? How well done you like the beef to be cooked can be controlled if you're making it yourself. Unless you do not know what meat you have and suspect it could be pork. In that case, you'd want to cook it thoroughly to ensure you don't catch trichinosis.

The broth lasted me two days, and that makes it... 3 bowls of pho. Two dinners, one lunch. I had plenty of tao ge and basil leaves, a whole chunk of frozen beef that I half cut up for my pho and the other half I fed to the cats.... actually, make that 4 bowls, I made one for my brother... except now I find myself craving REAL pho from cabramatta...