How To Make Pho

I don’t know how to cook. You do not want me in your kitchen. I’m the person that burns cookies to a crisp and makes water boil over while making pasta. On occasion, however, my mom asks me to join her in the kitchen (she clearly hasn’t learned that this is a bad idea). And today we made pho.

Disclaimer: I’m not of Vietnamese descent, so I have no idea if I’m doing any of this right. Also this is my first time writing a recipe. I’m really sorry in advance.

Ingredients:
Noodles
Vegetable and/or chicken broth
Ginger
Garlic
Crushed chili pepper
One red onion
Stalk of broccoli
A few stalks of celery
Two carrots
One green pepper
One red pepper
Salt and pepper to taste
Mushrooms
Optional: Soy sauce

Now, my mom never uses measurements when she’s cooking (one of the main reasons why it has been very difficult for me to learn how to cook). I’ll try to include approximate measurements where I can, so please bear with me here.

Noodles
This step is relatively straightforward. Buy noodles of any type (e.g. spaghetti, vermicelli) and follow the instructions on the packet to cook them. Cha ching! Step one is done.

Broth
Bring your broth, whether you use vegetable or chicken, to a boil. We personally used half vegetable half chicken. As for how much, we filled the whole pot, so let’s say 8 cups/2 L? Ultimately, you can boil some and if it’s not enough, you can boil some more. Yay, step two is done. This cooking thing is a breeze.

Stir Fry
Grate a few cloves of garlic and a branch of ginger. Bring the heat to low and add the garlic and ginger to a wok. Add a teaspoonful of crushed chili pepper (can be found in a jar) and stir. Chop your onion into fourths and chop each fourth thinly (optional: wear goggles). Add to wok and stir. Increase heat to medium. Chop your stalk of broccoli into little trees and add and stir. Add tablespoonful of ground pepper and teaspoonful of salt. Stir. Chop celery into little crescents and add and stir. Julienne carrots and peppers. Add carrots and stir. Then add peppers and stir.
By the way, we chopped and prepared all the vegetable beforehand. I would recommend this even though my instructions involve chopping them intermittently.

Bringing It All Together
Place noodles in a bowl and top with fresh, thinly chopped mushrooms. Add some broth. Then, top with the stir fry. Add some more broth. If you’d like, add some soy sauce to the broth and stir.
Now, devour as you please. I recommend complimenting it with an episode of Community.