Cookbook Challenge: How to Eat Supper #15

The Splendid Table's Vietnamese Soup with Pho

This was delicious. Both Mike and I agreed. We were skeptical as the recipe calls for putting raw meat into the broth, but we had nothing to worry about - the thinly sliced meat cooks right up in the simmering soup.

Full of fresh flavors thanks to the fresh basil, fresh cilantro and lime - not things I expect in a soup, but good, so good. And it was hearty as well, stuffed full of rice noodles, bean sprouts and some thinly sliced beef. The recipe says it is for two, but I surely couldn't finish my large bowl so with a little extra broth we had enough for two more servings.

And of course I couldn't get away with not learning something because what is this challenge but a way to learn more in the kitchen, so I'll share this piece of advice with you.

By all means, DO NOT mistakenly eat a whole clove that has been stewed with your broth! This means you need to eat in full light (and not grab your bowl and run into the dark living room to finish because How I Met Your Mother is starting) and you need to actually take the cloves out when you come across them (not try to balance them on the edge of the bowl where they will undoubtedly fall back in). If you do not heed this advice, you will end up chewing one and then your tongue will get numb and funky and you'll have to suck on one of the many lime wedges you cut for ten minutes trying to regain normal feeling in you tongue (hmm, maybe that's why the recipe calls for an entire lime when you're only serving two people).

Not that this happened to me or anything. ;)