Sunday Night Food Thread (SNiFT): February 21, 2016

I, uh... am not a good cook. At least not when compared to foodies like Capt. Ron, bfd and the like. But I do enjoy eating food, and tonight I want to talk to y'all (as I have many times before) about one of my favorite delicacies in the entire known universe. Pho. Pho. PHO. It's a Vietnamese beef noodle soup dish that's highly customizable. A typical pho restaurant will have upwards of 10 different varieties of pho, but the basic beef/noodle combination is a constant.

I've been wanting to make my own pho for a long time now -- mainly because I recently looked at how much of my money goes to pho restaurants -- but the recipe is quite daunting. Here are the first few steps of one recipe I found, for example:

1. Place beef bones on a baking sheet and roast in the preheated oven until browned, about 1 hour.
2. Place onion on a baking sheet and roast in the preheated oven until blackened and soft, about 45 minutes.
3. Place bones, onion, ginger, salt, star anise, and fish sauce in a large stockpot and cover with 4 quarts of water. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low. Simmer on low for 6 to 10 hours. Strain the broth into a saucepan and set aside.

I hit up different spots around town about twice a week, but I always come back for Pho An 2 in the Willowbrook area. They use actual filet mignon instead of the tough dry sirloin used in other places, and it makes a world of difference. It more than makes up for their typically absentee service.

If I ever get around to trying it, I'll report back with my results. Enjoy your Sunday night, homies. Feel free to talk about this or any other grub you like. Happy Sunday.