My “Daring Cook’s” Challenge

As soon as I heard of The Daring Kitchen, I rushed over and registered.  Each month, The Daring Kitchen issues a challenge to the participants to make and photograph a recipe.  I quietly prayed for a recipe that appealed to me.

I was SO happy when I found out my recipe challenge was for my fav Vietnamese food – Chicken Pho.  BTW, pho is pronounced Fuh? like Duh? as a question. 

I had a hard time finding the spices.  My husband had to purchase the spices for me from Penzy’s in Birmingham.  Right off the bat, I was worried I wouldn’t like the end results, because of the smell of the spices.

The cloves smelled like Christmas.  The whole Anise Starts smelled like licorice  (and I hate licorice).  The coriander reminded me of Mexican food.  But, I persevered and toasted the spices before adding to my homemade chicken broth.  All together, the spices are wonderful.  I really liked the broth.  It was different from what I am used to, but different in a good way.

My favorite part was the hot chili sauce, the fresh crunchy cilantro (a fav) and the hot jalapeno slices.  The cool crunchiness of the cilantro mixed with the savory broth and noodles was pure delish.

I assembled my dish, but did not take any pictures, as my camera in dead.  RIP.

I plan to make this dish again this weekend, so my husband can try it.  I think it will be much easier the second time. 

This recipe has really opened my eyes to makingmy own Asian foods.  I can’t wait to purchase (and use) Jaden Hair’s Steamy Kitchen cookbook.