This is along the same lines as why would you go to Outback Steakhouse and get pasta when they’re known for their steaks.  Why would you go to McDonalds and get a salad? That’s what Souplantation, Sweet Tomatoes, or Pluto’s near UC Davis is for. And if you’ve been to Pluto’s near UC Davis, that place is bomb diggitty. You don’t see me going to Arizona and expecting to find really good Asian food. My friend that lives there said people went CRAZY when Panda Express opened there.  She said the line was soooo long it was like they’ve never had Asian food before. Too bad for them Panda Express isn’t even TRUE Asian food.

So whether we get half a chicken and rice, or a bowl of pho noodles, it doesn’t get any better in Westminster. Anyone who tells me that pho noodles sucks in OC, needs to check themself and eat out more often. They have no idea what kind of stupid just came out of their mouth. Anyways, the RYCE Crew will be hanging out around OC and end up at L8 Oyster Bar & Grill after 8 PM. If you find us, come have a drink with us or something. Till then … Let’s Pho!!

-RYCE Randy

Just to let you know, our volleyball court is a closed court, which means only the people we personally ask will be able to play. This ensures us that all of us will be able to play, especially when the college only gives us the court once a week. Keep in mind this is NOTHING compared to the basketball guys getting 3 courts EVERY DAY, even when they have 2 people shooting hoops on one court.  So why do we always need to have 12 ppl with us before they set up volleyball nets but you can have 1 loner person shooting hoops by himself. It’s called doubles volleyball for a reason, we can play volleyball with 4 ppl. Oh well, that was my venting for the day of this whole issue that has been going on with MANY colleges. That’s why I miss UCLA so much. I played volleyball there 3 days a week and we had 2 courts everytime. Actually we technically had our own gym every Mon, Wed, Fri, and Sun. But anyways, if you live out in the IE or San Bernardino area, you are more than welcome to watch some good volleyball games for 2 hours. Hopefully I’ll see ya there.

- RYCE Randy

Perfect as any hearty soup in cold weather, this Vietnamese-style Pho soup is also light enough to stand in for a perfect warm weather meal. Made with fresh organic vegetables and vegetable broth, it’s simple to put together, and can work in a pinch when you are entertaining guests or after work when you want to throw together a quick, complete meal in less than a half hour.

For a recipe yield of about 2-3 complete servings of Vietnamese Pho (fairly large bowls), follow these instructions.

Ingredients for Making Vietnamese Pho Broth

1 (32-ounce) box of organic vegetable broth

2-3 Whole organic garlic cloves

3 Tbsp of organic Shoyu (Japanese soy sauce)

3 Organic Ginger coins

1/2 Tsp ground black pepper

1 Tbsp organic rice wine vinegar

1 Cinnamon stick

2 Tbsp Sriracha Brand Hot chili sauce

1 Half of an organic yellow onion

Other Ingredients for Making Vietnamese Pho

2 Organic green onions, chopped

1/2 Pack of rice noodles (Soba will also substitute fine)

1 Square of Thai flavor baked tofu (sliced)

1/2 Cup of mushrooms (Shiitake are nice)

1 Head of organic bok choy

1 Cup of organic red cabbage, cut into small, salad-sized pieces

Ingredients for Making Vietnamese Pho Garnish

4-6 Fresh organic basil leaves

4-6 Fresh organic cilantro stems & leaves

1 Organic lime cut in 1/2

1/2 Cup of organic soybean sprouts

Directions for Making Vietnamese Pho for Two

1.    First make the broth: Place all broth ingredients listed above in a large pot; cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Let simmer for about 20 minutes.

2.    In the meantime, cut up your vegetables. Bring water to boil in a separate pot and cook your noodles during this time, as well.

3.    Next, drain the broth of its contents, removing the whole garlic cloves, ginger coins, cinnamon stick and chunk of onion. Return the broth to its original pot and add all vegetables. Cook on low heat for about 5 minutes or until vegetables are at their desired tenderness.

4.    Add noodles to the soup, serve with garnish on top (to be stirred into the soup) and enjoy.

Matty Byloos and Brooklin Rogers

Matty Byloos writes and manages the Green Blog known as: Easy Ways to Go Green, as well as the Organic Food Blog: Organic Eating Daily

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If you can imagine beef noodle soup for breakfast, then you decidedly want to try Pho, a Vietnamese dish that has been around for nearly 100 years. I find my site is more and more leaning towards ethnic dishes that are loaded with big, bold tastes, and that make eating what it should be – an experience!

Pho (pronounced “phir” in English) is influenced by the Chinese and French cuisines, and was believed to have originally derived from a French soup, “pot au feu”,(pot on fire)which Wikipedia defines as a French beef stew.  This is usually a mixture of cuts of beef, vegetable, and spice.

Pho had its humble beginnings nearly 100 years ago, and at that time was basically boiled beef, broth and noodles.  It has since evolved into much more than that. During the war in Viet Nam, when beef became scarce, a pork version (pho lon) evolved.

The combination of both French and Chinese occupation has led to a diverse, unique cuisine that is admired by many.  When the Vietnamese fled to the US in 1975, they brought to the United States their unique cuisine and heritage.  It is how Pho was introduced to us…

As a Viet Nam vet, I am probably a bit more familiar with the SE Asian cuisine than most.  I also worked for many years with a large population of Vietnamese when doing vocational rehab.  As a results, I enjoy the cookery of the East.  It is spicy, oft-times hot, and is also very healthy.

Offered here is a basic recipe for Pho.  I have spent extra time lately with my brother after Mom’s passing.  Howard, also a Viet Nam vet, and I talked a lot about the culture there, and the great meals to be had.  He, too, loves the bold, spicy hot foods of the Orient…

We are accustomed to meals of bacon and eggs, French toast, sausages, big whacking slices of ham for breakfast.  All loaded with fat grams and way too much cholesterol.  Do your self a favor, and try Pho one of these mornings instead…

Enjoy!

Assemble These Ingredients:

3 medium unpeeled yellow onions (approx 1 pound)

4-inch piece unpeeled ginger (approx 4 ounces)

5 to 6 pounds beef soup bones (leg and knuckle bones – have butcher cut into 2-3 in sections)

1 lb flank steak. cut into bite-sized pieces.

5 star anise

6 whole cloves

3-inch cinnamon stick

1 1/2 tablespoons salt

1/4 cup Hot chili sauce

2 tablespoons fish sauce

Freshly ground Black pepper

1 ounce rock sugar (duong phen) or 1 tablespoon white sugar

For The Bowl Itself:

1/2 lb sirloin or round steak

1 TBS Cilantro-chopped

2 14 ounce packages of small ( 1/8-inch wide) dried or fresh banh pho noodles

2-3 scallions, with green tops sliced into small rings.

2 cups fresh bean sprouts

2 Limes cut in wedges

1 bunch Fresh mint

1 bunch Fresh Asian or regular basil

2 Fresh chili peppers, thinly sliced (Thai dragon or bird preferred)

To Make The Broth:

Char 2 of the onions (reserve the other onion for bowl preparation) and ginger over an open flame to release essential oils and fragrances.  They do not need to be blackened – only char to soften. (This can be done under a broiler if no open flame is available).  Remove skin and blackened pieces from onions and ginger, remove stem ends from onions and discard.  Set aside.

In a large stock pot, place leg bones and enough cold water to cover.  Bring to a rolling boil, and boil approximately 3-5 minutes.  Remove from heat, and rinse under cold running water.  Thoroughly clean stock pot, and return cleaned bones to pot.  Add 6 quarts of water bring to a rolling boil, and reduce to a gentle simmer. Add onions, ginger, star anise,cloves, cinnamon stick, cut up flank steak, salt, fish sauce, and rock sugar.  Simmer about 1 1/2 hours, and remove flank steak. (Steak should be done through but chewy) Cool steak in bowl of cold water to keep it from drying out and turning brown.  Refrigerate flank steak.  Continue simmering broth for approximately 3 hours, skimming scum and fat from  broth occasionally, and stirring bones from time to time.

When done, strain broth through double-folded cheesecloth in a colander to remove any impurities and pieces of tendon.  Discard bones.  To make preparation of Pho much easier, refrigerate broth overnight.  When cold, any excess fat can be easily removed from the cold broth.  The idea here is to have a very clear, fat-free broth.

To Prepare The Bowls:

Slice the sirloin or round steak against the grain in very thin slices.
(Freezing for a half-hour makes this easier)

Thinly slice cooked flank steak

Heat broth to boiling over medium heat.

Blanch noodles in 3-4 quarts of boiling water, and use a strainer to remove each bowl portion.  Blanching should only take about 10-20 seconds, until the noodles have lost their stiffness, and are easily managed.
If using fresh noodles, simply untangle and rinse in cold water.
Blanch bean sprouts in same water until wilted but crunchy.

Fill each bowl approximately 1/4 full with noodles, place cooked flank steak and slices of raw sirloin or round steak on top of noodles.  Garnish this with sliced scallions, thinly sliced onions, and chopped cilantro.

Ladle seasoned broth into bowl.  The idea here is to have the boiling broth cook the thinly sliced raw steak.  Season with freshly ground black pepper.

A garnish plate is served with the completed Pho.  It is customary for the diner to pull the leaves from the stalk of the basil and mint to season their meal.  Take thinly sliced peppers, swirl them into the soup for added flavor.  Add the slice of pepper if you like it very spicy.  Lime wedges are used to add a tartness to the soup.  Bean sprouts are also used as a garnish.

This variation of Pho is typically served in South Viet Nam.  In the North, Pho is a much simpler dish, minus a lot of the ingredients found in this recipe.  In the North, Pho is served without the herbs and bean sprouts.  Green chilies and lime only are used as condiments.  In the South, Pho can be served with a dozen different ingredients.

Pho has become very popular in the United States.  There are at last count over 500 Pho restaurants scattered across the US.  Pho is often served with spring rolls and egg rolls.

See my site http://www.allthebestrecipes.com for this and many more exciting recipes from around the world…

Alden Smith is an award winning author who is the webmaster of http://www.allthebestrecipes.com Visit his website for a free 660 page cookbook of Secret Famous Recipes.  Free articles, recipes, and cooking tips are available on his site.

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- RYCE Randy