The most important ingredient when making Pho

Hien – one of my best friends of over 40 years is an amazing cook. He taught me to make authentic Vietnamese Pho (Which is pronounced like the first part of a certain 4-letter f-word, without the “ck”).

Anyway… thanks to $39 round-trip flights, I was recently able to escape the Colorado cold, and visit he and his brother’s family outside of L.A. While there, we fixed a big pot of Pho and had a big gathering of with their whole family.

Instead of his normal process of taking 4 to 6 hours to cook the broth over medium heat, we decided we’d try to get more flavor by lowering the heat & cooking it overnight.

Best. Phocking. Soup. Ever!

It turns out the most important ingredient when making a good pot of pho is time.  Low & slow baby. Low and slow.

Best. Phocking. Soup. Ever!

It turns out the most important ingredient when making a good pot of pho is time.  Low & slow baby. Low and slow.

The recipe is actually pretty simple:

  • 4 to 5 lbs beef bones

  • 2 tbsp ground cardamom

  • Handful of star anise

  • 12-15 sticks of cinnamon

  • 3 tablespoons of salt

  • 3 tablespoons of sugar

  • 5-6 bay leaves

  • 1-2 onions – grilled & carmelized

  • 1 piece of ginger – sliced & charred

  • Put all of the above in about 2-3 gallons of water and simmer on medium-low for a minimum of 4 hours. (Although low for 12-24 hours will get a better result)

  • After several hours, adjust ingredients to taste, and continue to simmer.

  • When done, strain broth through cheesecloth. Add rice noodles and protein of your choice.

  • Garnishes include Vietnamese basil, bean sprouts, limes, siracha sauce, or hoisin sauce to taste.

Want to pay the best price ever for your next vacation?

Hunt for your vacation the same way; Low & Slow.

  • Rather than DRASTICALLY limiting your options by trying to squeeze a vacation to a specific place at a specific time into a pre-determined amount of time, start looking for a trip sometime 6 to 9 months from now. By planning long ahead, you can figure vacation time out AFTER you find the right deal. (Don’t worry – It doesn’t usually require that much adjusting.)

  • Pick a minimum of 10 destinations you’d want to go to and set up a fare-watch on Airfarewatchdog.com for each of those destinations.

  • Check out prices every morning, but don’t plan on booking anything for at least a couple weeks.

  • You’ll see a couple good deals that are tempting, but trust me – you’re not just looking for “good deals…” You’re looking for “Are you phoking kidding me?” AMAZING deals that you think are a mistake.  When you find one that looks good, there’s no need to wonder if you should wait for it to go down any lower… You snatch that fare up before someone else does, and you do everything in your power not rub it in the face of every other sucker on the plane who paid 3 to 10 times as much as you.

By having the patience to plan well ahead, and the discipline to look daily for the deals that are out there for the taking, you’ll be shocked at how much less you’ll have to pay for a vacation (or weekend trip) to a place you never even thought you could justify going to.

Have a friend you know would like to travel more and spend less?

Word of mouth is our best form of advertising. Please share this post with them.

Want to take vacations that will make your friends say “Are you phocking kidding me???” for the rest of your life? Set up a free call at JGOOT.com

PS – My wife used to be a 2nd grade teacher and hates that I use the F word. But hell – when you’re REALLY trying to get a point across, “effing” just doesn’t cut it. Besides, when it comes to travel… Do you want an “effing good deal” or an “un-phocking-believably good deal?”

HEY, I’M JOEL…

I was already a pretty savvy “budget” traveler 12 years ago (well, I THOUGHT I was.) Now, more than a decade later, after lots of practice and trial-and-error, I've added luxury travel on points into the mix, and the days of budget vacations are long behind me.

My wife and I not only travel 2- 3 times as often for the same budget as what I used to spend, but we do so in 4 & 5-star resorts. When we fly internationally, we fly in business or first-class.

The JGOOT Way of Travel has helped thousands of clients improve how they travel, and many will never go back to "the traditional way" again... Ready to learn how to do it yourself? Get the JGOOT book!

Get The Book!

Learn the JGOOT way and take a honeymoon quality vacation every year the rest of your life!

  • Everything you need to know about free flights

  • Secrets to getting free accomodations

  • How to never run out of points

  • Our best credit card recommendations (you only need a few!)

GET THE BOOK

Newsletter

Subscribe now to get daily updates.