Happy Pho Noodles - Product Review
HAPPY PHO GLUTEN FREE INSTANT VIETNAMESE BROWN RICE NOODLE
REVIEW
by
Ravenous Couple
Have you noticed that with close to 100 recipes, we haven't posted
a single recipe for pho?
We
adore pho and love the fragrance that wakes us up in the morning
from an overnight marriage of beef bones, charred ginger and
onions, fennel, coriander, star anise, and cinnamon infused broth.
But yet, we haven't posted our recipe.
While pho may be almost synonymous with Vietnamese food and
considered the national dish, we started this blog with the intent
of showcasing the awesome variety and deliciousness of Vietnamese
food beyond pho. For the casual or even food savvy American that
reads our blog, most know of pho and banh mi but likely not many
more dishes beyond that. So our pho recipe will still have to
wait as we have so many other great Vietnamese dishes to share.
Here we present Happy Pho, a gluten
free, brown rice instant noodle created by pho lovers Thao Nguyen
and Karen Cheng from the San Francisco bay area and co-founders
of Star Anise Foods. We
received a package of shiitake mushroom pho to sample and recently
made it for dinner.
We
typically eschew anything "instant," when shopping for groceries,
but Thao and Karen's story intrigued us. Pho runs in the veins of
Thao's family since the days of her grandparents peddling pho on
the streets of Nam Dinh, a city 1 hour south of Hanoi.
Growing up eating this pho, Thao along with friend Karen, a life
long lover of pho, began their mission to start a business based on
their mutual love of pho and desire to create a quick yet
nutritious instant version.
In
2009, they packed their bags and left for Vietnam, eating,
sleeping, and dreaming about pho and how they could recreate a
version with wholesome ingredients. They encountered resistance and
even outright rejection when they ask traditional pho noodle makers
about making brown rice pho. But through their persistence, they
developed Happy Pho.
So
what's in this box made of recycled paper and soy ink? Brown rice
noodles and a spice packet. On the surface, this is just like any
other instant noodle found in the Asian markets. But in reality the
rice noodles are from whole grain brown (more fiber and nutrients)
and organic green tea. Who would have thought that goes in pho
noodles?
The
spice packet is loaded with bits of dried green onions and shiitake
mushrooms and is quite fragrant with star anise and
cinnamon--clearly no white crystalline MSG in this product. Made
just of organic star anise, organic Saigon cinnamon, spring onion,
shiitake mushroom, black cardamon and ginger.
Shall we compare this to a bag of Vifon instant pho we bought for
the purposes of this post? Spice ingredients: Salt, sugar, refined
palm oil, MSG, disodium 5-guanylate, disodium 5-inosinate, textured
wheat gluten, green onion, eryngiym, pho spices, artificial beef
flavor, nature color, caramel.
Unlike
other brands of instant noodles where you just pour in hot water
and eat, Happy Pho does require and encourages you to "cook," by
seasoning the broth to your tastes and adding different ingredients
such as tofu, mushroom, spinach, etc.
Each box
is a healthy serving for 2 adults. We made this according to
instructions bringing 4 cups of water and spice to boil, then
adding additional shiitake mushrooms, noodles, and simmering it
till just soft. The instructions call for adding salt to taste--we
added about 2 ts of salt and also about 1/2 ts of sugar. We had the
usual accompaniments of bean sprouts, basil, thinly sliced beef for
bo tai, and Sriracha and hoisin sauce.
So
the verdict? It was good!
Something you can keep in the cupboard for a quick and easy meal.
The size and texture of the brown rice noodles was good and spot
on. Clearly healthier and better than the instant noodles/ramen
that we used to eat in college.
The
spice packet is simply just the whole ground spices so you have the
freedom to season to your taste. Does this broth have the
beefy flavors of the restaurant or home made pho with overnight
simmering of beef bones? Of course not--but it's not meant to. The
clean familiar fragrances of star anise and cinnamon is pronounced
and makes for a satisfying bowl of noodles dressed with your
favorite vegetables and/or meats. You can also use different canned
chicken, beef, or vegetal broths as a base or an organic bouillion
such as Rapunzels bouillon.
About Ravenous Couple
Hong is from the Northern Vietnam but grew up in Michigan. Kim
is from the Southern Vietnam but grew up in Southern California.
Together they try to create food that reflects our Vietnamese
cultural heritage and focus on traditional Vietnamese recipes
as well as experiment with newly inspired tastes through travel and
learning. Visit their popular bloghttp://ravenouscouple.blogspot.com
This review was originally at
http://ravenouscouple.blogspot.com/2010/07/happy-pho-gluten-free-brown-rice-pho.html.