Pho Get It

Posted: December 17th, 2010 | Author: Dr. Bill Stillwell | No Comments »

One of the things that makes this a great place to live is the food.
I mean…think about it, where else can you get virtually any type
of cuisine in the world? Now, you may not be able to get each and
every ingredient used in a Thai dish, but you can certainly get
close. And if you make enough friends, you may be able to get
everything you need.

The same goes for real Mexican food. Only a decade ago, you couldn’t
find half the ingredients to make a mole and now you can actually go
to Mexican grocery stores, or markets. Chiles that no one ever heard
of are now commonplace in large grocery chains.

You can get lamb and mussels from New Zealand, cherries and peaches
from Chile, coffee from Africa, Latin American, South America,
Hawaii, Vietnam and Malaysia. Tea comes from 100 different
countries, in flavors other than Lipton. The other day I had an iced
tea (coconut flavor) and it was slap yer mamma good.

About two weeks ago, I discovered a little Vietnamese joint that
seats about 24, depending on how you arrange the tables and chairs.
It’s run by two brothers: one cooks, the other takes care of tables
and customers. They are what Randy Neuman called “short people.” If
either one is a hair over 5 feet, I’ll pay you $20. The cook never
speaks and the front man is a comedian.

They serve what is called Pho, pronounced phuh, and they have about
2 dozen varitions on the theme. I’ve had 5 so far and they are all
good. Pho is basically a soup, a rich broth with rice noodles, and
you pick whatever meat, or chicken, or seafood you want. They bring
along some limes, fresh basil and mint, green chilies and bean
sprouts. You decide how much of this to add to your bowl, along with
fish sauce, soy sauce and hot chile sauce.

Today it was chilly, so I added a few good squirts of hot chile
sauce. Whoa doggie! I don’t break into a sweat very often, but I was
mopping my brow for about twenty minutes, there. The front man
brought me a towel, and said, “You wimpy. That sauce not even hot.
Towel free, but shower $10 extra.”

As I was going out the door, he was swearing a blue streak at a
table of 8 construction workers, who were howling with laughter.
Others may not go for this, but this joint has moved into my top
five. It’s the kind of place where I grew up, but the Vietnamese are
substituting for the Greeks and Italians, in my old neighborhood.
The food and the ethnic groups are different, but the spirit is the
same.

If you haven’t tried Pho…you’re missing out. On top of tasting
good, it’s pretty healthy stuff and eaten almost every day by the
Vietnamese, who, by the way, aren’t fat.

https://www.favoriteformulas.com?awt_l=GnZNU&awt_m=1ck09JPjtIz2rW

I’ll be back tomorrow with more.

With my best wishes for your optimum health,

Dr. Bill

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