During wintry weather, I often crave soup. A few weeks ago, I craved Pho. But it was during our snow days and I did not have the necessary ingredients on hand to make my standard version.
Perhaps I should back it up a bit and not presume that everyone knows of Pho. Just because I nearly lived off of the Vietnamese beef noodle soup during my law school years doesn't mean it's mainstream. But it should be--because really, it's delicious. And it's not at all difficult to make at home. You just need the right ingredients. The very ingredients my pantry lacked.
And this of course was the precursor to me flipping through a cookbook on a snowy day, searching for a recipe that I had previously dismissed. Make that scoffed at, then dismissed. Because I just couldn't imagine a crockpot turning out a version of my beloved soup that was anything, you know, worthwhile.
It is from the cookbook Make it Fast, Cook it Slow. The recipe is posted online here. It's not the real deal because it lacks a certain depth of flavor. But that said, it absolutely hit the spot, craving-wise. And now that I'm open to this sort of thing (and have stocked my pantry again), I plan to try Steamy Kitchen's version next.
My notes: I don't add the noodles to the broth while cooking because I find that doing so turns the noodles to mush. Instead, I like to prepare them separately. Follow the directions on your package, but in case they are not in English (like the variety I seem to pick), here's what I do: soak your dried rice noodles in warm water for 15 minutes to soften them, then cook them in boiling water for a few minutes. I then add the soft noodles to individual bowls and add the soup separately.
Sandra