My first bowl of Pho was in Melbourne in a Vietnamese cafe in the outer suburbs, I was taken by a vietnamese friend and we were given two choices beef or chicken, and gently urged to take the beef as that was their specialty, Not knowing what was going to appear but beef sounded pretty safe I my eyes widened as a gigantic bowl of clear broth with paper thin slices of beef and white rice noodles was placed in front of me .

At first I thought the bowl was for the middle of the table it was huge!, but then as more of the large bowls came out and were placed in front of everyone accompanied by a personal plate of vietnamese mint, thai basil beansprouts and curly leaf lettuce also to be consumed with the already immense meal. Then to top it all off how good was this a small bowl of chopped very hot birds eye chillies and lemon wedges completed the dish.

I couldnt help but think how am I going to get through all this, but even more so I tasted the broth and was pleasantly surprised at the quality and the subtle flavours and undertones of the ginger, the aromatics...not strong but subtle background bursts of flavour ...It was wonderful!

Instructions were given to gently scent the broth with the fragrant herbs, heat with the chillies and balance with the lemon, then add texture with the crisp beansprouts and lettuce. With tears rolling down my cheeks.and enjoying every mouthful our hosts watched on as they had converted more to their world.

I never did finish that first bowl but now if I ever go for my pho I am prepared!

This started my exploration into this cuisine and into flavours I had never tasted, subtle and sometimes strong, a light cuisine with an amazing creativity for using the rice grain, I have travelled to Vietnam at a time when it was not fashionable and have been back several times and I am still discovering.

Now you need to discover your first bowl of pho!

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