Enjoying the depths, ingredients of pho

Here is an excerpt from Craig LaBan's online chat of Jan. 20, 2015:

Craig LaBan: I'm returning from a deep dive into "Pho-ladelphia," my survey of favorite local pho halls that ran last week. My travels focused on Wash. Ave., Chinatown, and Kenzo, but I'd love to hear some recs for the Northeast and 'burbs, where I've been hearing about Pho Thai Nam (East Norriton) and Pho and Beyond (Willow Grove). Even farther out, folks in Lancaster City get to soup at another fave of mine, Rice & Noodles, from the family of legendary Pho Tau Bay in New Orleans, who relocated after Katrina.

Reader: What are your favorite cuts of pho meat? I like brisket or flank, but I see rib eye offered. Is it worth the extra cost?

C.L.: I'm a fan of the rib eye and tender brisket, but frankly, the raw beef is rarely the highlight for me. Most use pretty low-grade cuts of pale pink beef. This is one aspect of pho-dom where Stock, and its focus on quality ingredients, really excelled. [Stock's Tyler] Akin's brisket, in particular, had tenderness and a resonant, grass-fed depth.

Reader: Are there any Pho trucks of note that you visited? I was introduced to Pho via Tai's Vietnamese Food on the Temple campus. At ~$7 per big bowl, the Pho Sate and Pho Tai are good bargains for hungry students.

C.L.: That's an interesting idea - a pho truck. Most of the magic is in the broth, and that's the kind of thing that happens back at the commissary. The rest is properly reheating and building each bowl, which a truck should be able to handle. I've not tried these yet, but they're good suggestions. Packaging "pho to go" (with cold ingredients separate from the hot broth) is an art.

Reader: Akin mentioned in your article, "Once the basil and lime are in there, anything that differentiates one bowl from another is mostly lost." Should I not put basil and lime and bean sprouts in my pho?

C.L.: We were discussing how hard it can be to taste the different subtleties and flavors woven into a deeply steeped broth. For the sake of really tasting the broth, I approach pho in stages . . . first plain, then adding herbs and a couple jalapeño rings, then a squirt of lime. In many cases, that final squirt of lime (or a shake fish sauce) is all that's needed to wake up the background spices in the broth.

Reader: Any backlash from area restaurants about the Clean Plates/Food Safety piece?  

C.L.: Well, yes, as expected. I've heard plenty of grumbling from people in the restaurant industry who feel a bit persecuted. The biggest criticisms are that readers don't always understand the context of inspections (even though we provide a key), the fact that there are so many checkpoints that no restaurant gets a perfect score, and that some violations are more serious than others. Personally, I think the database is a great public service tool to sift through data that are already in the public domain.

Reader: It was nice to see the recent Travel & Leisure write-up extolling the virtues of the Phila. restaurant scene - but why limit it to the city borders?  

C.L.: It was a great nod, but in a small piece, it's hard to include more than the highlights. Still . . . following the NYT naming us #3 on list of places (around the world!) readers must visit this year, then T&L naming us the next great American food city . . . that's good press on a major level. Philly's finally getting some cred.