My kids and I were feeling awful, stuffy, cold and we were wanting a bowl of comfort, something warm and healthy. We wanted chicken noodle soup, but I was not up to chopping and my aching body was not up to standing at the stove. We talked about going to the store and purchasing canned soup, I am not a fan and the ingredients don't make me want to eat what is lurking behind the aluminum can professing to be "natural". We thought about the warm soup available in the deli at most large supermarkets but again I didn't want flour-thickened imitation chicken broth with over cooked noodles and a couple of pieces of carrot and chicken thrown in to make it appear to be something good for you. We wanted something truly homemade and healthy to make us feel better. Passing by one of the many Pho houses I remembered my sister asking me 3 years ago if I had tried Pho (pronounced Fuh) and I had no idea what she was talking about. I knew it was a Vietnamese restaurant, but that was about it. I decided to go in and take a look at the menu, it looked like just what we were wanting. I asked the waiter if the food was made with fresh ingredients, no boxes or mixes and he said yes so we decided to order a Pho Ga, chicken, my kids didn't want to try any of the more exotic soups made with tripe, fatty beef flank or tendon. I later found out that traditional pho is made with beef. When the soup came the kids were so excited, they get to assemble their own food! The delicious broth came with a plate of thinly sliced chicken breast, cooked rice noodles, sliced scallion, onion and jalapenos, cilantro and Thai basil leaves, bean sprouts, lime wedges and a bit of what smelled like hoisin sauce. You add what you want and mix it in, eat the noodles and vegetables with chopsticks and the soup you can pick up the bowl to slurp (what most of the patrons in the restaurant did) or eat it with an Oriental soup spoon. The flavors were so delicious, fresh and clean, my kids and I slurped and made yummy sounds ("mmmm, so good") until the bottom of the huge bowl revealed itself. We were absolutely stuffed, but not in the way you get stuffed from eating a big piece of meat and potatoes, we felt satisfied, not sick. We instantly felt better, soothed by the warm broth and our sinuses cleared by the slight heat of the chili's. My daughter requested that I figure out how to make it so she could have it all the time, that this was her new favorite restaurant food, it trumped the Mongolian grill restaurants, her old favorite. I thought about how in America herbs are used as mainly a garnish, but here we added about 1/2 cup of fresh herbs as an actual ingredient to each bowl, and how incredibly healthy fresh herbs are. After all they are a dark leafy green, right? I also thought about my sister and how I wish I had asked her what she loved about Pho (she was murdered last year, may she rest in peace), but I will never know. I imagined her sitting with her kids at their favorite Pho restaurant in Portland, just as I was sitting at one with mine. I researched Pho a little bit online and discovered that first of all Americans pronounce it wrong (we say Fo), and just like any other regional dish, it is a little bit different everywhere you go. Some add cloves to the broth, star anise, or even cinnamon sticks. Traditionally the broth is made "with the lot", meaning everything from the butchering of the cow is used, at most Pho restaurants in America you have to ask for this special broth. I am so happy we discovered this "new" noodle soup (new to us anyway). Just about every ethnic group has their own noodle soup like the Italians have their minestrone, the Chinese have their wonton, Japanese their Udon, and just about every grandmother has their chicken noodle soup, my little newly postmodern family has a new favorite: Pho.
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