We call it monosodium glutamate or just sodium glutamate. The Japanese invented (found it in nature actually) and call it umami, for “good flavor” or “good taste.”

Many people have problems with consuming monosodium glutamate, or MSG, in their foods. Chinese cuisine and many other restaurant foods are notorious for having lots of MSG in them. Restaurant pho is no different. In fact MSG use in many pho restaurants is so prominent and unmistakable that you can literally taste it instead of the flavorful pho broth that it should be. While MSG exists naturally around us and its use is considered “safe” by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA,) the benefits or ill effects that it brings to human diners (and pho zealots!) remain quite controversial. We each have our own judgement, tolerance, and reaction to MSG but to get a broader understanding of its impact on our culinary experience, I’ve asked a few culinary industry masters to share their views on MSG and how they feel it should be used in our daily lives.

Here are some views on monosodium glutamate from 7 food industry experts. Five of them have extensive culinary experience in Asian foods, the other 2  brings to the “table” (no pun intended) a clear Western viewpoints of MSG use. At least one is a food scientist, and many are respected authors, educators and publishers in their own right. I point this out because, in my opinion, the discussion on MSG cannot omit the differentiation between western and eastern cooking philosophies. In fact, such differences may just explain why MSG receives such notoriety sometimes.

In alphabetical order, they are:

• Donna Bauck, Associate Director of Retail for the University of Montana, Missoula
• Chef & culinary adventurer Robert Danhi, ChefDanhi.com.
• Author & Teacher Andrea Nguyen, VietWorldKitchen.com.
• Pho & coffee master Brian Nguyen, Quoc Viet Foods.
• Sinful recipes with Florentina, Peace, Love & Food! ciaoflorentina.com.
• Sushi, restaurant & marketing consultant Jay Terauchi of TheLASushiGuys.com.
• Author & Asian cuisine expert Corrine Trang, CorinneTrang.com.

I hope you will find their comments and viewpoints interesting and educational as I did. We are all humans and have our own biases and personal preferences, but insights from professionals in their own fields like these on a semi-controversial subject like MSG is a worthwhile read and definitely a learning experience. You will find both extreme and more moderate points of view on this thing we call MSG or umami. My own notes or clarification, if any, are added in brackets [...] to the end of the experts’ individual statements.

1. What are your views on MSG and its use in food preparation in general? Was its creation a blessing or curse to the culinary world?

Donna Bauck. Both a blessing AND a curse. As we all know many people are sensitive to it. In the “corporate” food world it is often banned. Corporations spend a great deal of time and money finding other ways to boost flavor, and I know some products are no longer used because they contain it. On the other hand, we all want to honor traditions AND cultures. In the case of  “America” we have often taken too many liberties in Americanizing foods. In the food industry, many of us realize we have lost the heart, soul, and flavor of many cultures’ foods by doing this. What is the answer? I don’t think anyone has come up with a good one. [I think Ms. Bauck's latter point is that, in americanizing ethnic foods, we make changes to them (including taking out MSG) to the detrimental effect of the foods' authenticity and taste, which I totally agree with.]

Robert Danhi. Chef Danhi wrote passionately and extensively about the subject of MSG in his book Southeast Asian Flavors. With his permission, I’m quoting relevant paragraphs here.

… For years I’ve had an internal battle over whether to use monosodium glutamate (MSG) in my cooking. The struggle began more than a decade ago when I really began to understand Southeast Asian food. I avoided using it, since as a classically trained Western chef, I was taught it was cheating and unnecessary to achieve really good food (actually true). But the challenge is that the food I’ve loved so much when I’ve traveled tasted so different from what I would make in my kitchen stateside. I realized there was no question that the prevalent use of MSG in restaurants and by street vendors of Southeast Asia was a significant factor affecting the flavor. I have ventured into hundreds of kitchens in Southeast Asia over the past twenty years. Most use MSG in one form or another. I have decided to address what most cookbook authors avoid—the topic of monosodium glutamate…

… I do not recommend nor disapprove of its use. The reality is that a majority of the kitchens in Southeast Asia use it. In the U.S.A. “No MSG added” is a common restaurant claim. But while the cooks may not have added MSG in its pure form, they probably still use sauces that have it added at the factory. Many cooks exclaim they do not use MSG, but frankly many do not even realize that they do…

… I believe much of the modern-day use of MSG in the foods around Southeast Asia is a cost-cutting measure… … That stated, MSG is a relative newcomer to Asian cookery, having been in use for just over one hundred years. Although I was not around two hundred years ago, I’m sure there were amazing, vibrant, flavorful foods long before MSG’s invention…

Andrea Nguyen. MSG is not a terrible thing but it’s [oftentimes] [overused] to make blah, poorly made food tasty. Umami is important in lots of Asian cooking but there are natural ways to achieve it. MSG is a chemical product. Who wants to add extra chemicals to their food? It’s not natural.

Brian Nguyen. MSG is a flavor enhancer. Until today, FDA and most, if not all, health officials from other countries have not banned of using MSG in foods. The chemical components of MSG are Sodium and Glutamic Acid. Glutamic Acid is an Amino Acid. Our body requires Amino Acid. However, our body can produce it, luckily. Without it, our foods would be very bland.

Florentina. MSG is simply not good for you. It might have been a blessing for the culinary world, but definitely a curse for me and you, the consumer.

Jay Terauchi. I don’t use MSG in my cooking, unless it’s an Asian packaged or canned product. I understand having to use it in processed foods, but I won’t use it as a flavor enhancer.

Corinne Trang. In my Asian side of the family, we used it all the time. Some still do, but I don’t. It is unnecessary. Salt can open up your taste buds. Spices and herbs can enhance any foods, curing, heat cooking, etc… can do the same. There [are] so many ways to create beautiful flavors with fresh ingredients, why would anyone want to use MSG? It’s definitely a curse, and quite frankly it should be taken off the market.

2. How much, if any, do you use or recommend the use of MSG in any recipe?

Donna Bauck. I stay away from it as much as possible. There is no way of knowing if my customer base has sensitivity. Though I attempt to label any foods that I am aware of (just as you would for nuts,) I believe there is a growing population that does know if they are sensitive, [therefore] may steer away from foods labeled as such.

Robert Danhi. Don’t use in recipes.

Andrea Nguyen. I don’t suggest using MSG in any of my recipes. I’m more intrigued by what natural glutamates do in food, how they make food taste good.

Brian Nguyen. Most food products contain naturally occured Glutamic Acid. However, during the cooking process, most of Glutamic Acid is destroyed by heat from over cooking. The amount of putting the MSG back into food varies. However, it should be much less than 1% in finished products.

Florentina. I do not use MSG in my cooking and I would never recommend it in a recipe.

Jay Terauchi. None.

Corinne Trang. Zero.

3. Are there certain dishes that you feel will always need at least some MSG?

Donna Bauck. I do not believe I am in the position to answer this. I do not use it, though I am sure I have eaten it. I have never studied the effects of a recipe with or without MSG.

Robert Danhi. [No.]

Andrea Nguyen. Nope. Some Viet people say that pho is not pho without MSG but that’s just because there is rampant use of it in pho. They are used to the ‘sweet’ flavor that MSG lends. Using yellow rock sugar makes that happen in pho broth.

Brian Nguyen. As I mentioned above, MSG is a flavor enhancer not a flavor. Most cooked dishes require MSG since it has been destroy[ed] by heat.

Florentina. Absolutely not. With all the spices we have available to us today, there is no need for MSG at all.

Jay Terauchi. I don’t feel that but understand that most Asian dishes use it and that’s what people know it to taste like that.

Corinne Trang. No.

4. With respect to pho, is MSG (at any quantity) an important ingredient? What about any other broths/soup dishes?

Donna Bauck. Same answer as above. Additionally, though I have eaten pho, I could not answer from a cultural, or personal experience as to its importance.

Robert Danhi. Use lots of meat, enough fish sauce and long simmering to harness umami and no MSG is needed. [If you] can’t afford the meat and time, add some MSG and broth will taste better.

Andrea Nguyen. See response to #3 above.

Brian Nguyen. The most important ingredient in Pho or any dishes is not MSG. MSG is not a primary ingredient. It is a secondary ingredient. It is there to enhance not to act as a flavor.

Florentina. I don’t believe so. More people should try using sea salt and lots of aromatics to enhance the flavor of their meals.

Jay Terauchi. I think to give it the authentic flavor YES, otherwise I think it would lack the familiar flavor that people know.

Corinne Trang. MSG is not necessary in any food, including pho or other broths or soup dishes. Again my family has used [it] for sure, but I don’t see a good enough reason to add it to any of my meals.

5. The bottom line: would you enjoy a bowl of pho (homemade or restaurant) knowing that MSG was used?

Donna Bauck. Since I have eaten pho, in traditional settings I believe I can safely assume I have eaten it with MSG. Though, again, I believe the public needs additional education on MSG. It is one of those products that we hear (as example) may cause headaches if you are sensitive to it. No one I know wants to “risk” a headache… so though they may have eaten MSG prior, they may not know they have. Theoretically, I believe some people would shy away from a food product with this ingredient because of this.

Robert Danhi. Yes, I do here in USA and in Vietnam where most cooks use it… Sad, but they [can't] afford the pure meat/bone broth.

Andrea Nguyen. When I have pho in a restaurant, most likely there’s MSG in the broth. That’s fine and expected. What’s not fine is when there’s a ton of MSG in the broth. That’s just bad cooking.

Brian Nguyen. Whether homemade or restaurant made, MSG should be used sparingly.

Florentina. Yes I would, occasionally, but if I were given the choice between a bowl of pho made with MSG and one made without the use of MSG I would pick the latter.

Jay Terauchi. I understand that it’s traditional and enjoy the flavor from the stock of bones, etc.  If the broth only had flavor from seasonings such as MSG, then No. It’s a big selling point to Americans if you don’t use MSG.

Corinne Trang. I would. I did when I was in Vietnam. I have when enjoying pho in a NY City’s Chinatown, because when in the company of friends, you talk about other things besides MSG! At home when I make pho, or any Asian soups, I never use it.

My take on MSG.

So there you have it. Certainly learned a lot myself. My own personal view on MSG is more moderate than many people’s, and certainly more moderate than some of our culinary masters here. I myself do not get adverse effects after consuming moderate amounts of MSG, except for the normal thirstiness which comes with any sodium consumption anyway. I do agree that many food vendors overuse MSG and my level of enjoyment would drop like a brick; I don’t like salt water and it’s just a waste of my money actually. In any case I think the MSG controversy will continue on. What’s the bottom line? I think it is this:

• MSG is not banned simply because it is not necessarily bad for many of us, but we do have our own choice of what we consider a quality and healthy diet. Education and understanding are key.

I want to send many warm thanks to Donna Bauck, Robert Danhi, Andrea Nguyen, Brian Nguyen, Florentina, Jay Terauchi and Corrine Trang for participating in this roundtable discussion on MSG. You gave us valuable insights into this tough culinary subject.

Now let’s go eat some pho.

Oh and please take the MSG survey below.

Vietnamese Pho With No Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)? Sure You Want It That Way? is a post from: Vietnamese Pho Noodles

Updated 11-08-10. The first thing I do when served with a bowl of Vietnamese pho is to enjoy its fragrance steaming up out of the hot broth. The second thing I do is to take a sip of that broth to taste its goodness in its most unspoiled state. There are pho broths out there good enough for me not to have to enhance them with any sauces. Regardless of how good the broth is, though, I must have my squeeze of lime in my pho. To me the fresh tangy lemony flavor is an absolute must-have flavor in a bowl of pho bo, no exception. But this is where I have a problem with how lime and pho come together.

Take a look of the following pho photos gathered from around the Internet. You will find similar photos in many cookbooks and printed publications as well. What is common among these photos? Can you see a common no-no in all of them?

• Pho photo #1
• Pho photo #2
• Pho photo #3
• Pho photo #4
• Pho photo #5
• Pho photo #6
• Pho photo #7
• Pho photo #8
• Pho photo #9
• Pho photo #10
• Pho photo #11
• Pho photo #12
• Pho photo #13
• Pho photo #14
• Pho photo #15

Yes, it’s the piece of lime in the bowl, peel, sometime seeds and all!

OK it’s very simple:

1. You don’t want to cook the lime peel and seeds in the hot broth. Yuck!
2. Do I use my fingers to snatch out the piece of lime and squeeze it to get the lime juice? Double yuck!

This post is not about judging the validity of recipes, ideas, ingredients or viewpoints of pho writers and bloggers on the sites above. And I’m not poking fun at photographers taking liberty and creative license with their culinary works. I respect all of that. But this is all about accuracy of the presentation, and conveying the subject matter in the proper manner. If we want to share, educate and inform one another about Vietnamese Pho, then let’s do it right. Providing good, accurate presentation of what pho is, is a very big part of this sharing, educating and informing. Pho veterans will like it, and pho newbies will appreciate it. We as publishers have at least some responsibilities here, right?

The bottom line: creative photography or not, let’s serve the lime where it belongs: right on the side of the pho bowl.

Oh one more thing. Some of these photos show way too little amount of pho broth in the bowl. To properly serve a bowl of pho, you need to use plenty of broth to cook all ingredients within the bowl, and that means most everything must be submerged except for the garnishing for the finishing touch.

By the way, many pho zealots agree with me when it comes to the taste of lime in pho. Check this out, as of this writing, this LovingPho.com running poll indicates that lime is the top item to enhance your pho experience. If you haven’t done so, take the poll and share with us your preference.

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Want the Lime Taste in Your Pho? Don’t Serve It Like This is a post from: Vietnamese Pho Noodles

Updated 10-27-10. Rant alert! Here’s the latest offender: Rachael Ray and the Phunky BBQ Pho with Pork and its pho recipe.

One of my reasons for creating this Vietnamese pho blog LovingPho.com is to help tell the real and authentic story of Vietnamese Pho to the blogosphere. I saw so much inaccurate renditions of pho online that I felt the need to present the noodle dish in a more correct fashion. I try to stay true to what pho is, and where I falter, I depend on the wiser others to help point me back to the facts. Pho itself is good enough to stand on its own so there’s no need to further embellish it.

The dish/program name itself, Phunky BBQ Pho with Pork, is enough to send chills up my spine. What’s really annoying to me is the casualness that these inaccuracies are presented by Rachael Ray and her program. Andrea Nguyen herself was distrurbed enough to write a commentary about it. You can follow the link to read her “How funky is Rachael Ray’s Phunky Pho?” Here are a few of her key points which I totally agree with:

• Pho is not Thai. It’s Vietnamese. Maybe they were thinking about Pad Thai? But that’s stir-fry. Anyway I don’t get it.
• Pork. Enough said for me. Pork really has no place in pho. It’s great in hủ tiếu though.
• Lack of fish sauce. It’s one of the key ingredients, can’t do without it.
• Angel hair pasta. Ugh, this is ugly! It should be bánh phở rice noodles. Maybe Ms. Ray tried to reach the widest audience possible, where there is no banh pho available?

The whole program leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Beside Andrea’s points above, here my other peeves:

• The show, and Rachael Ray herself, not showed total disrespect to Vietnamese (and Thai) foods, but also to their own audience’s intelligence, though I could be wrong here since there are 578 Facebook Likes for the recipe as of the date of this post. Amazing!
• In this 21st century global economy and awareness, there is still lack of knowledge and education in mass media production. What did it take to produce a Rachael Ray episode, how many people were involved in such production? I don’t care if the program was entertainment or educational, and we aren’t really talking about perfection here. However, a little accuracy on the basics would be nice.
• Makes me wonder how much other craps are out there… I know, I know. Dumb question.

According to Merriam-Webster Thesaurus, synonyms for funky include: bizarre, bizarro, cranky, crazy, curious, eccentric, erratic, far-out, funky, funny, kinky, kooky (also kookie), offbeat, off-kilter, off-the-wall, outlandish, out-of-the-way, outré, peculiar, quaint, queer, queerish, quirky, remarkable, rum [chiefly British], screwy, spaced-out, strange, wacky (also whacky), way-out, weird, weirdo, wild. True.

So what do you think about this episode? Do you agree or not agree with points discussed above? Please take the poll or leave a comment.

An Injustice to Pho: Rachael Ray’s “Phunky BBQ Pho with Pork” Recipe is a post from: Vietnamese Pho Noodles

Updated 12-02-10. Vegetarian pho, or phở chay, has never been about healthy eating in Vietnam. Of course there are people who must go the vegetarian way due to health or personal belief reasons, but for the majority of the population, pho chay, and other chay foods, are more about observing strict non-meat meals as part of the Buddhist religious observance. Now with pho being quite popular in the U.S. and the population becoming more conscious about leading a healthy lifestyle, it’s only natural that restaurants offer vegetarian pho or pho chay on their menus.

Pho is the well-known Vietnamese rice noodle dish. The authentic version has its broth made using beef or chicken bones, then served together with various kinds of beef or chicken meats. The noodle dish is essentially a meat-based dish. In the words of Asian cookbook author Corinne Trang, pho is really two separate dishes in one: the broth, and the noodle with its ingredients. It would take good skills and experience to create imitation pho, which is exactly what vegetarian pho is.

A vegetarian pho, or “pho chay,” can be vegetarian on at least 2 levels. I’m a purist so, to me, vegetarian means absolutely no meat. For many of my American friends, however, vegetarian might mean no meat, but seafood is okay. You can find both varieties at pho restaurants in the U.S. If in doubt, ask the restaurateur of what’s actually in their pho chay. Or alternatively, you can find more authentic vegan dishes at strictly vegetarian restaurants, which are popping up like mushrooms around Little Saigon in CA, as well as other Little Saigons around the world too.

A real and completely vegetarian pho is made entirely from vegetables. Instead of using meats and bones, the broth depends entirely on vegetable ingredients such as leeks, wheat gluten (mock beef, chicken, etc.,) tofu and mushrooms for flavors and textures. Important pho ingredients are definitely retained to keep the pho flavors, and as long as they are not meat-based. These include onion, star anise, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and the likes. Vegan or not, pho would not be pho without these ingredients to give pho its unique aroma.

For devoted Buddhists, some root vegetables like onion and garlic may also be excluded. If you have a chance to try vegetarian foods served at a Buddhist temple, you’ll notice that it’s a lot simpler and may taste bland to the common person. The point is it has nothing to do with enjoying a meal at the temple (hardly the proper place to look for culinary nirvana, but definitely a place to find culinary creativity,) but everything to do with knowing you have a meal without killing an animal. Temple chay foods are true vegetarian and healthy, but once vegan foods get to the restaurants, chefs spice things up to make it more attractive to paying customers. Most vegan dishes at these places are quite good to eat, and many are really excellent.

Vegetarian pho or pho chay will never be as popular as pho bo and pho ga, but when done right, it’s an excellent vegan choice.

Share your favorite pho chay restaurant experience with us in the comment below.

Vegetarian Pho or Pho Chay – a Tasty Healthy Vegan Choice is a post from: Vietnamese Pho Noodles

I had the privilege to meet and chat with Brian Nguyen, the founder of Quoc Viet Foods^® Incorporation in Westminster, California, the maker of Vietnamese pho and other soup bases. I find Brian’s story about how he started Quoc Viet pho soup base and where he wants to take his company quite fascinating. Here’s a recount of our encounter.

First a little bit about the company. Quoc Viet Foods^® specializes in manufacturing and distributing Vietnamese pho soup bases and other seasonings. The company is the first to use modern technologies to convert the traditional Vietnamese dishes into the convenient soup base form. Quoc Viet’s soup bases and seasonings are processed from natural ingredients and do not contain any preservatives. For those who think soup bases are cheap, MSG-laden imitation of the real thing, they haven’t try these products. In fact Quoc Viet’s pho and other products are so good you’ll get restaurant taste and quality at home. By the way, in the interest of full disclosure, I did not receive any compensation for writing this article.

Those who have been looking for quick pho recipes probably saw my post about Quoc Viet Foods’s pho soup base. In it I described how to make a batch of 20 plus bowls of pho in less than 3 hours. I took my time for that post, but my subsequent performance has improved to less than one hour. So you can say I’m a fan, and Quoc Viet Foods’ products should definitely be on your try list if you don’t want to deal with bones, oxtails, and 3-6 hours in the kitchen.

Quoc Viet Foods’ Formative Years

The company name is Quốc Việt Foods^® Incorporation. In Vietnamese, the word “quốc” means nation, state or country, and of course Việt is the majority ethnic group of people living in Vietnam. So Quốc Việt Foods^® is all about the traditional flavors and taste of Viet foods of the motherland. By training, Brian Nguyen earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a Master of Science in Food Sciences. He’s worked for major food companies so he had all the right knowledge, from food product development to testing, from production to packaging, and distribution. Only problem was, he had no product to call his own.

On many trips to the local supermarkets, Brian told me he often looked that Viet foods on the shelves that are made in Thailand and elsewhere, with questionable quality and authenticity. One can almost see the entrepreneurial mind at work, and like many entrepreneurs, Brian had this energy that was just waiting to explode into a great product for a waiting market.

It finally dawned on Brian Nguyen that pho is what he wanted to do. Already in existence were mediocre products at best, and Brian definitely had some ideas. Now I’ve written before that Vietnamese cuisine is not something easily duplicable into mass produced quantities. And when it comes to pho, the variation is something that is expected. It’s one reason why I’ve not been impressed with pho franchises. But I digress.

Back to Brian and his pho. His garage became his R&D and product development laboratory – think Steve Jobs, Apple computers, and garage. Local supermarket meat departments were his beef bone and oxtail suppliers. It came to a point that butchers knew his face, what and how much he wanted as soon as he approached them in their shops. And his neighbors started wondering about this family next door that cooked pho everyday, all day long. Brian’s family is Northern Vietnamese so it’s no surprise, but the real kicker was when he told me neither he nor his family liked pho!

It wasn’t until the business actually opened that the butchers and neighbors understood what he was up to.

Growth and Market Expansion

Quoc Viet Foods^® then began a journey of growth from a humble 900 square foot location in 2002, expanding progressively to larger facilities every few years, to the current 12,000 sq ft space.

With an excellent product line, an expanding pho market that continue to gain visibility and popularity, new products coming down the pipeline, Quoc Viet is poised for more growth in the coming years. You can now buy Quoc Viet’s products from many Asian supermarkets. For those who cannot find a local retailer, the company will make an effort to ship products directly as well, though it’s an exception rather the rule.

In addition to supplying to the supermarkets, Quoc Viet Foods^® also ships products to restaurants, hospitals, schools, and casinos. Recently the company also became an approved vendor to SYSCO, the ubiquitous distributor of food and related products and services to restaurants, nursing homes, hospitals, hotels, motels, schools, colleges, cruise ships, sports parks and summer camps – wherever a meal is prepared away from home. This is serious pho distribution channel.

New Products – Vietnamese Coffee and Tea

Vietnamese milk coffee Cà phê sữa (either đá or nóng – iced or hot) is great by itself or it can go well with or after a bowl of pho. Brian Nguyen informed me that Quoc Viet Foods^® is also bringing to market its own new products of coffee and tea. Branded Cafvina, the coffee that I tried rivaled many coffees you may find in retail shops, and can give Lee’s Sandwiches’ iced coffee some serious challenge. Cafvina brand coffee comes in whole bean, ground, concentrated or ready-to-drink varieties. Look out for them.

Visit QuocViet.com.

Quoc Viet Foods® Steadily Growing and Bringing Vietnamese Pho to the Masses is a post from: Vietnamese Pho Noodles

The basil family of herbs is one of the oldest and most commonly used herbs in the world. The variety known as Thai basil is no exception; it is utilized so extensively in Indian and Southeast Asian dishes that it is practically considered a vegetable rather than a simple herb. In Vietnamese pho, Thai basil has a prominent place on the plate of garnishes that are served along with the steamy bowl of broth, meat and noodles.

Because there are so many variants of basil in every corner of the world, it is not really a surprise to find someone confusing Thai basil with one of its cousins. But Thai basil has a unique smell, appearance and taste that makes it stand out from among the others.

What Is Thai Basil?

Thai basil is known by many names. In the West, it is sometimes called licorice basil, sweet basil or anise basil, although there are variants of basil that are also referred to by those names. In Thailand, Thai basil is called bai horapa, while in Vietnam, it is known as rau húng quế. Interestingly, rau hung que literally means “cinnamon mint,” though Thai basil is a true basil.

This true basil is made distinct by its small leaves, smaller than its western and European counterparts. It also has purple stems; when it blooms, its flowers are also colored purple. There are many varieties of Thai basil grown all over the world, but the most popularly cultivated is called the Siam Queen. As for taste, Thai basil is known for its peppery zing that is coupled with a kind of sweetness akin to that of licorice and anise. This is the reason why this type of basil is also called anise basil or licorice basil.

Thai basil should not be confused with Thai holy basil or with Thai lemon basil. These are all commonly used basils in Southeast Asian cooking, but Thai holy basil has leaves that are smaller and velvety in texture. Thai holy basil also smells like cloves. On the other hand, Thai lemon basil smells and tastes like lime, just like its name suggests. The other name of Thai lemon basil is hoary basil.

One advantage that Thai basil holds over its numerous cousins is that it retains its flavor well even when cooked. The same cannot be said about the other types of basil, especially the Mediterranean strain that is called sweet basil in the West. That being said, Thai basil is best consumed fresh, just like any other kind of basil. If it is to be preserved, one can chop it and mix it with olive oil or honey to make it last longer.

History, Lore and Legends of Basil

Since it is one of the oldest herbs in use in the world, basil has a long stretch of lore and history behind it. Thai basil is no exception. The herb may be called Thai basil, but its origins are placed in India, where it has been cultivated for at least five thousand years. One of Thai basil’s Indian cousins, the Indian sacred basil or tulasi, is regarded as a holy plant. Tulasi is seen as a representation of the goddess Lakshmi, who is one of the consorts of the Hindu god Vishnu. Basil is often scattered in graveyards in India.

Trading took basil to other parts of the world, and the herb gained its own meaning where it landed. The name “basil” actually came from “basileus,” the Greek word for “king.” That is because the herb was often used to treat the ailments of royals, and was often mixed in their baths to keep them healthy.

Basil is also a symbol for love in Italy. If a man wishes to marry a woman, he calls upon her with basil in his hair. Ancient Roman marriage practices include exchanging basil leaves or sprigs.

In Thailand and Vietnam, and in the rest of peninsular Southeast Asia, Thai basil keeps one healthy. It is more regarded as a vegetable in this region rather than just an herbal garnishing.

Role of Thai Basil in Pho

Thai basil is an optional ingredient in Vietnamese pho. Along with bean sprouts, lime wedges and chopped Asian chili, Thai basil is always included in the plate of garnishing that is provided with the bowl of pho (except for the Pho Bac or northern pho variety.) Whether it is to be put in the bowl or not depends on the discretion and desire of the person eating it.

What does Thai basil do to pho? As mentioned above, this herb has a peppery taste that can be quite spicy. It adds a layer of liveliness to the delightfully complex mix of flavors in a bowl of pho. At the same time, Thai basil is also sweet, a sweetness that is similar to that of anise and licorice.

Vietnamese cuisine, just like most Asian cuisines that are heavily influenced by the Chinese, follows the Chinese principle of balance in cooking. What this balance means is that all the five basic tastes of saltiness, sweetness, spiciness, bitterness and sourness should be present in every dish. However, these flavors should be in harmony with one another instead of fighting it out in one’s tongue. Vietnamese cooks always strive to achieve perfection in their food by creating the right balance between these five tastes. It is no different with Vietnamese pho.

Enjoying Thai Basil in Your Pho

Most people throw in the basil leaves and let them cook in the bowl as they eat their pho. For those who want to maximize the taste of Thai basil in your pho, do this instead.

1. Pluck and gather a few leaves together and pinch/tear them into smaller pieces into the bowl. This releases all the basil’s fragrant flavors and aroma more quickly and intensely, so you get to enjoy it even before eating it.
2. The next step is to not cook them in the broth. Don’t push them down into the hot broth but just let them be on top of everything. You’ll get to them when you get to them. By doing this you’ll get the freshest possible taste of basil as you enjoy the rest of the pho ingredients.
3. Thirdly, put them in as you progress with your pho. Don’t put them all in at once at the beginning. Pace them out over the course of your pho adventure, and stop after maybe 2/3 of the way. This is because if you continue after the broth has cooled then you’re essentially eating raw basil which may be too pungent for some.
4. Finally, for the maximum Thai basil effect, you can obviously use more of it with each and every mouthful of pho.

I’m more in the #3 and #4 camp myself.

Growing Thai Basil

Thai basil is a kind of herb that can be grown successfully both indoors and outdoors as long as it has access to sunshine at certain periods during the day, it is regularly and liberally watered, and it is planted in well-irrigated soil. There are actually many cultivars of the Thai basil, though, as mentioned above, the most popular of them is called the Siam Queen.

This type of basil is pretty much resilient regardless of the climate and can be grown all year round, although it does not really like the cold.  Another beautiful fact about Thai basil is that it is believed to repel garden pests like aphids and mites. This is why many gardeners choose it as a companion plant to protect their more susceptible plants.

If the Thai basil is to be planted at an outdoor garden, its seeds must first be prepared and allowed to germinate indoors. The seedlings can then be transplanted to their outdoor plots when they become two or three inches tall. In addition, the seedlings must be planted eight inches apart from each other.

Thai basil can be harvested by plucking or cutting one leaf at a time as needed for cooking and other purposes. However, to encourage the herb to grow more leaves, it is recommended that the third top of the stem be cut instead. When cutting leaves and stems, clean and sharp gardening scissors should always be used.

Thai Basil – Must Have Ingredient for Pho

Thai basil adds a sweet and zesty layer of flavor to the dish, and it can help enhance the richness of pho. Readers to LovingPho indicated in the What’s in your pho? poll that Thai basil is one of the top 3 items they prefer in their pho bowls, right up there with bean sprouts and lime. It beats out culantro, hot chili sauce, hoisin sauce for pho, and sliced peppers. So for those who have decided Thai basil is not for them: maybe it’s time to try it again?

Thai Basil – The Siam Queen Takes Her Place in Vietnamese Pho is a post from: Vietnamese Pho Noodles

In Vietnamese pho, you are likely to find chopped cilantro blanched by the broth in your bowl. Many pho recipes that you will find either in Asian cookbooks or on the Internet also recommend using cilantro, chopping it finely and sprinkling it on the noodle-and-meat assembly before the broth is ladled over it. It is very unusually to find pho bowls in restaurants or recipes that skip on cilantro. It’s always there, giving us the flavor that we sometime take for granted.

Given all that, what is cilantro and just how important is its inclusion in Vietnamese pho?

What Is Cilantro (rau ngò)?

Cilantro actually refers to the leaves of the coriander plant. When you encounter the terms “fresh coriander” or “coriander leaves,” these terms actually refer to cilantro. It can also be called Chinese parsley or Indian parsley. Among the Vietnamese, cilantro is called ngo.

The coriander plant, which botanists call Coriandrum sativum, belongs to the parsley family. In fact, cilantro is often mistaken for Italian parsley, and these two plants are indeed related. The coriander plant is an annual-growing herb, and the plant can grow up to 20 inches in height. The shape of the leaves vary; the leaves at the base of the plant appear lobed while the ones near the top and on the flowering stems are slender and lacy. Coriander can bear white or pale pink flowers, and coriander seeds are also widely used in cooking.

It should be noted that although cilantro and coriander seeds both come from the same plant, they are not interchangeable when it comes to using them for cooking. Cilantro leaves can be very pungent, and some find it bitter to the taste. In fact, a lot of people, particularly Europeans, are not able to stand the smell of cilantro because it is akin to that of crushed bedbugs. Coriander seeds, on the other hand, are pleasant to the nose and have a warm, citrusy flavor. For North Americans, cilantro reminds many diners of Mexican foods, particularly the popular Mexican salsa for dipping.

Relation to Vietnamese Coriander and Long Coriander (Culantro)

Although cilantro is a common ingredient in Viet and other Asian dishes, people who are not familiar with the plant often mistake Vietnamese coriander and long coriander for cilantro. These three herbs are essentially different even though they are all called coriander plants.

Vietnamese coriander (rau răm) is what the westerners call the laksa plant. They also call the plant Vietnamese mint although the plant itself is not even closely related to the mint plant. While Vietnamese coriander is just as widely used as cilantro in Southeast Asian cuisine, the similarity between Vietnamese coriander and cilantro end in the fact that they have a slightly similar smell. The leaves of the Vietnamese coriander are long and broad, and it has knotted stems.

Long coriander, on the other hand, is also known as saw leaf herb or culantro (ngò gai.) It also belongs to the parsley family, just like cilantro. And just like cilantro, long coriander/culantro can be found as a garnish in pho rather than a main source of flavor during the cooking process. Long coriander has an odor similar to cilantro, but the taste is much stronger. Those who love pho are familiar with its long and thorny leaves.

The History of Cilantro

Cilantro is said to be the oldest herb to be used by man. There were evidences of coriander being cultivated during Neolithic times. Ancient Egyptians are known to grow and use coriander, and there is a reference to coriander in the Old Testament of the Bible.

The coriander plant is native to the middle-eastern regions of Asia and in Southeastern Europe. Through trading and migration, the plant made its way to China and then to Southeast Asia, where it was used in salads, rolls and soup noodle dishes like pho. The Spaniards who came to Asia brought the coriander plant to Mexico, where cilantro became a vital ingredient in salsa and other Mexican dishes. From Mexico, the use of cilantro spread to the western and southwestern areas of the United States.

The Role of Cilantro in Pho

There are two major influences in Asian cuisine, and they are those of India and China. China’s influence has strongly marked Viet cuisine (Vietnam was under Chinese rule for a thousand years,) and among the Chinese cooking principles adopted by the Vietnamese is the principle of balance. This principle states that all the five tastes – salty, sour, spicy, sweet and bitter – should be present and existing in perfect harmony with each other in every dish.

Cilantro is known for its somewhat bitter taste. Some people have even gone to the extent to describe the taste of cilantro as soapy and have made a point of avoiding eating it. But it can nonetheless be said that cilantro provides the bitter element in a bowl of pho. For me and many Viet, cilantro gives a very nice, pleasant fragrance.

The one thing about cilantro is that it is best eaten fresh. When it is cooked or when it is left exposed for a long time, it loses its flavor. Thus, when preparing a bowl of pho, chopped cilantro is usually the last ingredient to be put in the bowl assembly, sprinkled over the noodles and the meat. The hot broth is then poured over it, and the bowl is served immediately.

The Health Benefits of Cilantro

For all its bitterness, cilantro is actually a very healthy herb to eat. It is rich in vitamins, minerals and other nutrients, namely: iron, potassium, calcium, folate, lutein, beta-carotene and vitamins A, B6, B12, C, E and K.

Cilantro also has a number of desirable medicinal qualities. It is quite well-known for helping to stimulate the appetite and to secrete gastric fluids that digest food. The herb can also aid in lowering bad cholesterol levels as well as blood sugar levels in the body. It also has the ability to cleanse the blood and to fight infection.

You are very likely to find cilantro in the majority of Viet dishes. Whatever you order at a restaurant, you’ll probably have cilantro with it.

Growing and Harvesting Coriander

The coriander plant is an annual herb, meaning it can grow and flourish any time of the year. It can also grow indoors and outdoors as long as it is not exposed directly to sunlight, especially during the hottest hours of the day. The plant also grows quickly and has to be replanted every six weeks for a steady supply of these herbs in the kitchen.

In order to plant coriander, its seeds must first be prepared. The husks are cracked slightly and the seeds are soaked in water for 48 hours. The seeds are then planted in a pot or in a bed at around three to four inches apart from each other and covered with a layer of soil about a quarter of an inch thick. If the coriander seeds are planted indoors before transplanting to a garden outdoors, the transplanting must be done when the plant has grown two inches tall. Once the transplanting is completed, the watering must be done constantly.

When the coriander plant begins to bolt, meaning to produce flowers and seeds, its leaves cannot be eaten anymore. Cilantro, the leaves, must be harvested once every week to make the plant last longer and to prevent bolting temporarily.

When harvesting cilantro, a few leaves must be left on the stem of the plant so that the plant can continue feeding itself. Only clean and sharp planting scissors must be used to harvest cilantro. Once the coriander plant has bolted, the seeds can be gathered for replanting.

There you have it. The lowly cilantro in fact has a long history of its own. Cilantro never takes the center stage, but you can’t have pho without it.

Cilantro – Man’s Oldest Herb a Must-Have Ingredient in Vietnamese Pho is a post from: Vietnamese Pho Noodles

There are three main elements to every bowl of Vietnamese pho: the steamy, flavorful and aromatic broth; the meat, whether it is tenderly cooked chicken or beef that is rare or well-done; and the banh pho noodle. It’s the banh pho that makes pho a noodle dish. Without banh pho noodle, it’s just another soup.

Many Vietnamese culinary experts will tell you that the life of pho is in the broth because that is where most of the flavors that characterize this dish are in. But one can argue that the body of pho is in the banh pho noodle itself. Everything else – the fresh herbs, the bean sprouts, the sliced Serrano chili, the lime wedges and all the other fixings in the bowl – is just optional, nice to have stuff.

What is Banh Pho Noodle?

Let’s start with a quick definition. Banh pho is the noodle used in pho dish. What differentiates banh pho from other noodle varieties is banh pho has square or rectangular cross-sections (depending on width size), as opposed to mostly round cross-sections most other noodles come in. For the purpose of this discussion, I’ll use banh pho and banh pho noodle interchangeably.

Banh pho are noodles made from rice flour. In countries other than Vietnam, they are called chantaboon or rice sticks.  Modern conveniences have seen banh pho sold as dry packaged varieties in supermarkets and grocery stores, but the ideal banh pho are those made fresh. These Vietnamese noodles are flat and white, with widths varying from a millimeter to a centimeter, or even wider (or 1/16″ to wider widths of 1/8″, 1/4″ or sometimes even 3/8″.) When banh pho is cooked, its texture becomes soft and chewy, and its appearance translucent.

Banh Pho: An Essential Pho Ingredient

Why is banh pho so important in a bowl of pho? One can say that pho is not pho without the correct banh pho rice noodles in it. You can eliminate the garnishing, but you cannot take banh pho noodles out of a proper bowl of pho. And you can’t have just few strands of banh pho floating in the broth, you have to have a whole lot of them. In fact in a restaurant, it’s totally an acceptable option to order more banh pho in your bowl than normally served (see the article on “Tips on Ordering Pho Your Way.”)

Here’s another way of looking at it. In Vietnam and Southeast Asia in general, a meal is always composed of a main dish that is starchy and made of carbohydrates. These come in the form of either steamed rice or noodles. The other dishes made from meat, seafood or vegetables eaten at the table during the meal are just side dishes that complement the rice or the noodles served. There may be a soup side dish served along side the other side dishes. This is called “canh” in Vietnamese, and is often consumed in small bowl sized portion over rice or by itself during the course of the meal.

Banh Pho: The Foundation of a Pho Meal

A meal in Southeast Asia is never complete without the rice or the noodles, and when pho, hu tieu or any other noodle dish is the meal, the noodles are the foundation of such meal.

Vietnamese pho is a complete meal in a bowl. The broth serves as the soup, the rice noodles the starchy element, the meat as the protein, and the herb garnishing and the bean sprouts as the salad part. All these elements form a unified whole and the meal would not be filling (nor fulfilling) without the rice noodles.

However, it is not enough that the rice noodles just exist in the bowl. In an Asian meal, the rice dish is so important that its quality dictates the tone of the entire meal. If one has to force down rice that was not properly cooked, it spoils the meal even if the side dishes were made for the kings and emperors.

The same thing applies to banh pho noodle. Bad noodles make bad pho. Banh pho should be fresh, with a slippery texture that is smooth enough for a good and easy slurp. If they are of the dried, supermarket variety, they should be prepared carefully. They should not sit in sticky clumps in the bottom of the bowl, and they should not be tough to chew on. Neither should they be so overcooked that they break apart when you pick them up with your chopsticks.

A Sample Package of Fresh Banh Pho Noodle

Fresh Banh Pho Noodle Nutrition Facts: Serving Size 2 oz (56g), calories 150, sodium 240mg, total carbohydrate 35g, protein 3g

How Banh Pho Is Made

As mentioned above, banh pho noodles are made from rice flour.  Although the dried version is now available in supermarkets and grocery stores, these noodles are best when they are freshly made. In Vietnam, it would not be surprising to find a family that makes its own banh pho.

TravelPod.com has a simple yet interesting post detailing how Vermicelli noodle is made. I imagine banh pho is made similarly – I’ll have to do more research on this.

Preparing Banh Pho for Pho

Properly preparing banh pho noodles for serving in pho depends on whether you use the dry or fresh banh pho. If the banh pho is the dry type, then they should be soaked in hot water for 15 to 20 minutes, and drained afterwards. The resulting noodles should be soft and translucent.

Three Sizes of Dry Banh Pho Noodles

Variety of Dry Banh Pho at Local Asian Market

But if the banh pho is fresh, it should be rinsed under cold running water and then blanched in boiling water for no more than a few seconds, until the desired softness and translucence is achieved.

The noodles are then placed in individual bowls, occupying about a third of the available space. Obviously those who like more noodles in their pho can add more banh pho as desired. Just remember to scale down on the other ingredients as the noodle will expand in the hot broth. The meat is placed over banh pho, and then the piping hot broth is ladled into the bowl.

The Bottom Line: Pho Is not Pho Without Banh Pho

Substituting a different noodle may be acceptable at home but what you have then is “broken” pho. No self-respecting pho restaurant will serve pho without properly prepared banh pho, because it’s just “wrong.” If you run across someone serving pho with round noodles, demand your money back because it may be something else but certainly not pho they’re selling.

Banh Pho (Bánh Phở) – It’s All About the Square Noodles is a post from: Vietnamese Pho Noodles

Updated 01-16-12. There’s nothing like enjoying a bowl of pho at your favorite pho shop with your pho companions. But there are times, for various reasons, you’d like to make pho yourself at home. Most authentic pho recipes like Andrea Nguyen‘s or Didier Corlou‘s call for cooking the bone and meat in broth for up to 2.5 to 3 hours. Adding other preparation time, including the time to bring water to boil, and you’re looking at maybe 4-5 hours total cook time. So for those who want to take a shortcut and shave off a few hours, try the Quoc Viet Foods Beef Flavored “Pho” Soup Base option.

Quoc Viet Foods makes shelf storable soup bases, seasonings, coffee and tea. When it comes to authenticity, it’s always a challenge to find ready-made food products, including Vietnamese pho. Yet Quoc Viet seems to achieve the impossible for pho, that is to “convert the traditional Vietnamese products into a convenient form” while maintaining the flavor expected of such product. This means for those who never made pho or tasted pho, they can now get very close to the real thing, easily.

You can read more about my other post on Quoc Viet Foods. But enough about the company. Let’s get to the goodness of their Beef Flavored “Pho” Soup Base.

The package comes in a compact round plastic container. The wraparound label clearly describes the content and includes an ingredient list, nutrition information and cooking directions in English, Viet and Chinese. While the nutrition info states that there are 32 servings per container, the cooking directions indicate it makes 20 bowls. Confusing, but still very nice! At a price of US$ 6.99 per container, I’m paying US$ 0.35 for the broth in each of my pho bowls, excluding a few other ingredients of course.

Inside the container are the powdered soup base with marrow, and 2 bags of spices. The soup base is the key part of the pho broth and is essentially your “instant” bone/bone marrow solution that you didn’t have to cook for 2-3 hours. It also packs plenty of beef fats which you can skim off at serving time if you wish. The spice bags are your normal star anise, cinnamon, and various other spices. What’s awesome about the soup base/spice bag combination is they give you all you need for the broth, including all seasonings that you need-I added some fish sauce but it’s really not required. The only other 2 things you’ll need are the ginger and onion which should be charred or grilled before use in the broth.

Quoc Viet Foods Beef Soup Base	Quoc Viet Foods Beef Soup Base Nutrition Facts
Quoc Viet Foods Beef Soup Base Cooking Directions	Quoc Viet Foods Beef Soup Base Package Content

The direction is very easy to follow. You’ll have to buy your preferred meat to cook, but this whole process entirely does away with having to buy the bone/oxtail and cooking them to get to the marrow, and to purchase the spices separately. For my broth I bought 2.8 pounds of beef flank, a piece of ginger and a medium size onion. The required ingredients list and cooking directions can be viewed from the photos below, but here’s a recap:

REQUIRED INGREDIENTS:

• 3-4 lbs, beef flank or brisket,
• 1 lb, beef tendon*,
• 1 bulb, onion,
• 2 pieces, ginger.

DIRECTIONS:

• Blanch meats for 15 minutes. Discard solution and rinse meats.
• (Step not in package direction): Char or grill the onion and ginger pieces. I cut my onion in half, but it’s your choice to do so or not.
• Put meats, onion, ginger, in a large pot and add enough water to cover meats. Boil at medium flame for 1 hour.
• After 1 hours, add spice bags and content of soup base. Do not tear spice filter bags.
• After 15 minutes, remover filter bags. Boil at medium flame until meats are softened.
• Remove meats, onion and ginger pieces.
• Adjust water to 2 gallons or to taste.
• Bring to boil and serve.

* The meats and tendon are optional, or you can also substitute/add tripe, meatballs, etc. depending on your preference, just as you would order in a restaurant. See my “Tips on Ordering Pho Your Way.”

For me I ended up with so much broth that I had to divide into 3 smaller containers, put 2 in the freezer and enjoy the third portion over a few days. Again the key was the soup base which is all inclusive. There are no seasonings required as the soup base is super concentrated, and you can add water to adjust to taste. My total cooking time was about 3 hours, but that’s just me because making and eating pho is a religion for me so I took my time. For others who just want to get quickly to a nice steaming bowl of pho with chopsticks and spoon in hands, you can probably do it in 1.5 hours or less. An alternative is to use a smaller portion of beef (hence cutting down cooking time further) and/or use pre-cooked meatballs instead. By the way, for those unfamiliar with meatballs, you don’t cook them in the broth for the whole duration. Just heat them in the broth just before serving.

Finally I rate my pho broth creation using Quoc Viet  Foods’ Beef Flavored Pho Soup Base as follows:

• Quality and taste: 8/10.
• Convenience: 10/10.
• Affordability: 10/10.
• Total value (quality & affordability): 9/10.

You can find this and other Quoc Viet products in many Viet and Chinese food markets in the 50 U.S. states, Denmark, Canada and Japan. Quoc Viet’s website indicates their products include

1. Chicken Flavored “Pho” Soup Base
2. Beef Flavored “Pho” Soup Base
3. Beef Stew Seasoning
4. “Hue” Style Beef Flavored Soup Base
5. Chicken Flavored Soup Base
6. Pork Flavored “Hu Tieu” Soup Base
7. Pork Flavored Soup Base
8. Tamarind Soup Base
9. Vegetarian Soup Base
10. Crab Flavored Soup Base
11. Thai Tom Yum Soup Base

Unfortunately Quoc Viet is a wholesaler and does not sell directly to consumers over the Internet. The company is also very active at local demos, festivals, and charity fund drives, so if you’re lucky you can catch them in action serving pho to hungry pho fans at these events.

Quick Beef Pho Recipe with Quoc Viet Foods’ Pho Soup Base is a post from: Vietnamese Pho Noodles

Fans of Vietnamese pho, both from Vietnam and outside of Vietnam, and whether or not they have Vietnamese ancestry, have become used to that plate of garnishing that accompanies a bowl of pho. Some even think that pho looks quite forlorn without that plate of garnishing. Bean sprouts, Thai basil, culantro, wedges of lime and fresh Serrano chili pepper are the expected garnishing to accommodate a steaming bowl of pho. In this article we’ll take a look at bean sprouts, that almost tasteless, odorless and seemingly unimportant ingredient.

If you were to ask a Vietnamese pho purist, he or she would say that bean sprouts are not necessary ingredients to pho. In fact, the pho purist may be quick to point out that the original pho, which is pho bac or pho of North Vietnam, did not even have bean sprouts or any of those garnishes so common to southern pho. A hot and tasty broth over fresh rice noodles and good cuts of beef are enough to make a perfect bowl of pho.

For many pho eaters, the role of the herbs, spices and sauces that are included in that plate of garnishing is meant to enhance the sumptuous flavor of pho beyond what’s already in the bowl when served. In addition, they also add to pho’s overall texture. This is not really unique to pho, however. Many Viet dishes, especially the noodle varieties (those with broth or dry, served hot or at room temperature), require some kind of green garnishes of herbs and vegetables to be added to the main dish at the table. So bean sprouts is one of those popular fresh ingredients, and its use to enhance pho is well known.

What Are Bean Sprouts?

Generally speaking, bean sprouts are stalks that germinate from any kind of bean seed. In the case of the bean sprouts used in pho, they come from sprouted mung beans. Mung beans are legumes with green husks. They are also called mash beans, green beans, green soy, moong or monggo.

The sprouts of mung beans are simply called bean sprouts. These sprouts have white or silvery stalks. When the husk is removed from the heads, the heads are yellowish in hue. Bean sprouts can be eaten raw, but they can also be included in quickly cooked stir-fry dishes. They are crunchy when raw or just slightly cooked, and they have a fresh, light sweet taste.

It is widely said that bean sprouts have been around and have been used in cooking and for medicinal purposes for more than five thousand years. Mung beans originated in the Indian subcontinent, and through trading and conquests, they made their way into China, where they became an important part of Chinese cuisine. Since Chinese cuisine is a major influence in Asian cuisine, both mung beans and bean sprouts found their way into the cuisines of India, East Asia and Southeast Asia, including Vietnam.

Role of Bean Sprouts in Pho

Bean sprouts, as mentioned above, are optional ingredients in Vietnamese pho. They are served separately from the bowl of pho, in a plate of garnish that also includes lime wedges, Thai basil and chopped Serrano chili. In pho bac, bean sprouts and the other garnishes are generally omitted.

Despite the fact that bean sprouts are only optional in pho, many pho eaters want them in their bowl nonetheless. These sprouts enrich the layers of flavor and texture of the already flavor-rich pho by adding in some crunch and a bit of sweetness into the dish. Overall, bean sprouts help make pho a more balanced dish.

The idea of balance in every dish served in a meal is a philosophy of Chinese cooking. In Chinese cuisine, it is important for the five types of tastes – sweet, sour, bitter, spicy and salty – to be satisfied in a single dish served in during the meal. These five tastes should exist in harmony within the dish instead of compete with each other for dominance. In pho, bean sprouts contribute to the layer of sweetness.

If you are familiar with bean sprouts at all, you know that it can be eaten raw or cooked, or somewhere in between. In many Vietnamese dishes, and clearly in pho, bean sprouts can be enjoyed at any of the cooked state just mentioned. If you want fresh raw sprouts in almost every bite, then add them in the bowl a few at a time. If you like them somewhat cooked, then add more at the beginning so they are cooked while you eat. Finally, if you like cooked sprouts, add them all in when the broth is still boiling hot; you’ll then enjoy fully cooked sprouts as you proceed eating your pho. Alternatively, many also order blanched or steamed bean sprouts on the side. See more in the article “Tips on Ordering Pho.”

In fact while bean sprouts are often provided raw in the plate of pho garnishing, some pho recipes recommend blanching bean sprouts in hot water for five to ten seconds. Exposing these sprouts briefly in heat takes away a little of the bitter aftertaste, enhances the sweetness of the sprouts and releases a form of protein in bean sprouts that are not present when they are raw.

It is quite hard to experiment with a dish as steeped in tradition as pho, but if you want to make your own pho at home and if you do not have bean sprouts available, you can probably substitute other kinds of sprouts. Sunflower sprouts, for instance, are just as sweet and crunchy as bean sprouts. Soybean sprouts are softer, though they taste less like beans. Alfalfa sprouts will wilt the moment you put it into your hot pho broth, but they also taste the same as bean sprouts.

Are Bean Sprouts Good For You?

If you are trying to lose weight, you should put bean sprouts in your pho. Bean sprouts are the weight-losers’ dream. A regular serving of the sprouts contains only 26 calories, and the sprouts are rich in protein, folacin, fiber, iron, potassium, and vitamins C and K. Bean sprouts are also low in sodium, cholesterol and saturated fat.

So, they are really good to eat. However, you should take care to buy only fresh bean sprouts and you should consume them no more than two days after buying them. You can make them last a week though by storing them in a bag with a little water and put them in the refrigerator. There are rumors that eating too many raw bean sprouts can lead to salmonella and other such ailments, and if you are wary of that, you can blanch your sprouts before eating them.

Sprouting Your Own Bean Sprouts

To avoid eating legumes that have toxins in them, as the FDA has warned of the risks of eating raw sprouts, you can make your own bean sprouts. This is actually very easy to do.

Buy your mung beans from a reliable supplier and soak them in cool water. If there are hard seeds in the mix, you can choose to throw them out. You will know which seeds are the hard ones because they sink to the bottom when you soak them in water, and they are darker than the others.

If you do not want to throw the hard seeds out, you can soak your hard seeds in warm water for 12 hours. Then, just rinse them and soak them in a container of cool water. After the 12 hours have passed, drain the water out and just set your seeds aside.

It usually takes two to three days for the bean sprouts to spring from the seeds. Rinse and drain your seeds thoroughly every eight hours, but without disturbing them too much. If you are going to make your own bean sprouts, it is recommended that you buy a sprouter, a container specifically made for sprouting beans.

Store your seeds in a place where they are safe from direct light and where they get enough air. Contrary to popular belief, it is not necessary to keep sprouts in total darkness. Thus, you do not have to put your sprouts in a cabinet. Actually, this may harm your sprouts because the ventilation inside your cabinet may not be good – it can make your sprouts inedible.

Pho and Bean Sprouts

So there you have it – the relationship between pho and bean sprouts. It may look like an odd couple, but it works well. It is up to you if you want bean sprouts in your pho, but many add them purely out of habits because it’s just natural to eat them together. One thing for sure is that they make your pho a lot more interesting to the taste. They bring an added crunch and an added sweetness to your bowl.

Bean Sprouts – Adding Crunch to the Savory Pho is a post from: Vietnamese Pho Noodles