What to Eat on Thanksgiving Eve

Pho and accompaniments from Little Saigon  (Yelp photo)

Despite going to the local pho restaurant twice a month, this article revealed that I don't know much about the savory Vietnamese noodle dish:

The North/South distinction:

Northern pho is delicate and elegant, the broth more savory than sweet. It is not eaten with basil or bean sprouts or other herbs. Plainness is a virtue. The broth is the thing.

The south evolved its own style, one rooted in its very different cooking traditions....Southerners love their accoutrements: basil, bean sprouts, sawtooth herb, a squeeze of lime, a shot of hoisin, a splash of Sriracha.

American broth is superior to the broth in Vietnam

because meat is more widely available, and that meat is also of a higher quality. More and better meat in the broth....means a more substantial, fuller-bodied soup.

Onion and ginger yes, star anise no:

what [some enthusiasts] love most in a broth are the hits of star anise and cinnamon. According to the experts, they most likely have been weaned on bad pho....charring the onion and grilling the ginger gives the broth both flavor and fragrance.

"Never add a handful of beansprouts before tasting, the experts say."

The sprouts are cold, and the temperature of the soup will drop precipitously.

Blithely ignoring the experts, I slurped up a bowl of beef pho, with bean sprouts, on Wednesday night.

Tomorrow's meal would be heavier, but I doubt it would be tastier.