June 23, 2014 – It is always exciting to learn about an undercover star in our midst. The folks you see walking down the street, at the grocery store or in the post office, doing normal day-to-day things that veil the fact that they do amazing work professionally. Santa Cruz resident Andrea Nguyen is one such person. She’s a highly accomplished writer, teacher and cookbook author, gaining accolades from sources such as The New York Times, Martha Stewart, NPR and the James Beard Foundation. She’s also a true expert on Vietnamese food and works towards demystifying the complex cuisine—making it accessible to all of us through her vibrant books and hands on cooking classes.
Her most comprehensive work on the subject, Into the Vietnamese Kitchen, happens to be the first full-color English language cookbook dedicated to Vietnamese food and it dives deeply into the varied methods and ingredients that make this food so special.
“If Vietnam had a national dish, pho would be it,” Nguyen says about the widely misunderstood and mispronounced noodle soup. Once you get past how to say it, which generally sounds like “fa” (in Southern Vietnam) or “foe” (more Northern), both with an intonation at the end, you’ll be ordering the soup any chance you get. The fragrant, richly caramelized stock, the chew of the noodles, the fire of hot pepper, all the essential components of pho come together to addict anyone slurping up their first bowl.
The history of this quintessential dish is really a testament to resourcefulness during the colonization of Vietnam. The story goes that in the late 19th century, when the French were in power, their desire for animal protein led to pervasive beef slaughtering. The French took all the prime cuts and left the tough leftover cuts to the natives.
“Vietnam is a little country that has been subject to foreign incursion on and off, which is basically the whole story of Vietnam,” says Nguyen. And so, deciding to make the best of the situation, they created the soup we now know as pho, blending both Asian and French ingredients and techniques as a form of cultural survival. The soup is traditionally eaten for breakfast, but can be enjoyed all day long, and despite the fact that most people assume the beef based recipe is the most iconic, the chicken version “is just as legitimate,” clarifies Nguyen. Most importantly, if you want to say pho correctly when ordering a bowl, just think of it as a question: “Would you like some pho?”
“Westerners are used to eating with one hand, but with pho, you have got to take a two handed approach, chopsticks in one, the bowl in the other,” instructs Nguyen. That way you can experience the flavors of the multi spice-infused broth and the textures of the rice noodles and meat all at once. And the most important thing to remember when properly diving into a bowl is to tweak each bite as you eat. Many people throw piles of condiments and a bunch of sriracha hot sauce on top of the entire bowl all at once, but Nguyen suggests the idea of customization, where each spoonful can be a different combination.
However, “a really good bowl won’t need anything other than maybe a few chili slices,” she says, letting the stock ingredients shine through instead of masking them. In fact, when the subject of sriracha comes up, Nguyen doesn’t hesitate to let her opinion out. “I’m kinda hard ass about it,” she says, “it’s like adding ketchup to chicken noodle soup.”
Pho may seem hard to come by here in the Monterey Bay, but there are little pockets of Asian communities that have opened some spots. A co-owner of the Santa Cruz Diner is Vietnamese and features the soup on their menu. In Capitola, the Asian Express on 41st Avenue draws a steady stream of pho enthusiasts as well. And Charlie Hong Kong in Santa Cruz has chicken pho available. In fact, Nguyen consulted on the recipe at CHK, after the owners discovered her book at an event and knew exactly who to call to help troubleshoot their original version. Heading South, Tran Noodle is tucked away in a shopping center in Watsonville, followed by at least four places along Fremont Boulevardin Seaside, Pho Lucky Noodle House and Noodle Bar in Marina and Noodle House in Salinas.
If you would prefer to try mastering the art of pho cooking at home, you can find all of the spices you need, including star anise and black cardamom, at Lotus Asian Market, also on 41st Avenue in Capitola. And ask around for beef marrow bones from anyone with a meat CSA or special order from Whole Foods or Staff of Life. Nguyen says that most people buy these bones for pets, but they are essential for making her beef pho recipe and should not be overlooked.
She has a lengthy recipe on her excellent website www.vietworldkitchen.com along with dozens of other Vietnamese dishes. But, if you are really committed to learning the art of pho, snatch up a coveted spot at Nguyen’s upcoming cooking class at Love Apple Farms on October 25th. The original date in August was booked immediately, so they added another one. Hearing her describe the variety of noodles they prepare and the 8 pots of pho that get sampled at the conclusion of the comprehensive course, it’s obvious that the author is the kind of teacher you want heading things up. “People come to my classes to learn and master things that they are not fully familiar with, so I want to make sure they have a really full experience,” she says.
About the author
Amber Turpin is a freelance food and travel writer based in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
