Bitter melon/gourd - best dish for me is ampalaya con carne. Marinade bittermelon slices with soy sauce, corn starch, sesame oil and ginger. Saute onion, garlic and ginger, then add ampalaya. Brown beef a little and add. Add water with cornstarch to make it a little thick then a little of the black beans (just a little as this is too salty). Yardlong beans - saute onion and garlic. Add coconut milk until it simmers, add shrimps (unshelled). When shrimps turn pink, add yardlong beans (cut into 3" pcs) and cook just when beans are a little soft. Water spinach (kangkong in filipino) - as an appetizer, crispy kangkong is good. Just make batter mixture (can be onion rings batter) dip the leaves one at a time and deep fry it. Yummy! Eggplant - grill it and peel. Mash it while adding minced onion, fresh ground peppercorn, salt and minced garlic. Used as a side dish for another filipino dish, pochero. I can go on and on, but this is for now. :)

Deebo, I do make the broth, and sometimes I add different flavors. I prefer Thai basil for its anise hints, but I'll substitute regular basil if it's all I have. Same with the other ingredients. "pho really is all about the garnishes and late additions.. yum!" - I absolutely agree! Mrpepper, it's my pleasure! I love good food and special flavors! I cook with what I have available, so usually Thai chiles...however, I'd like to have a selection of peppers for the soup. Last night, I visited my brother and his girlfriend. We had Phá» again! This time, it was water and beef paste, onions, scallions, garlic oil, and quartered beef balls. In another pan, my brother cooked up some ground pork and added a couple cherry tomatoes and a couple spoonfuls of Tum Yum paste, giving the meat a very complex flavor. Cilantro, green onion, bean sprouts, limes, and more chiles, along with Hoisin sauce, Sriracha, and Oyster sauce. As you'll see from the pics, my brother is one of those guys who likes a fatty, oily broth. My bowl - still fairly conservative: My brother's girlfriend's bowl: And my brother's bowl of soup. Notice that he has his own special bowl.... Josh

Oops! I think Edouard was keeping me sort of glued to the TV, (I'm in Houston and love the rain it brought=o), so, I had a few mispelled words. But... ha-ha... since no one mentioned it, guess you all knew what I meant. On the noodles instruction paragraph... It was supposed to be: run through 'Cold' water, and not 'Gold' water. Surprisingly, no one had asked me to send him/her a jug of gold water! LOL... Also, please "ChoPped" the green onion and not 'choOped'... LOL, is that even an English word?!? Jessyf, I often don't have sliced beef neither and the ground beef in the stock is normally enough meat for me. Medium rare to rare sliced beef is the main meat in Pho. However, many people prefer it thoroughly cooked. If you do, dip the sliced beef into the hot steamy stock to cook it to your preference and arrange it on top of the noodles. Then, when you're ready to serve, pour the stock into the bowl. Jim, as for the hot sauce, there's no such thing as the "right" hot sauce. It is more of a preference. I have an Italian taste tongue, so my choice of "hot" is black pepper for Pho! And, of course, you can chose to have a combination of black pepper, hot sauce and jalapenos with Pho. That is, if you don't turn into a dragon afterward. As Jessyf mentioned, yes, Sriracha is normally used in the restaurant for Pho. You're right about having other type of meat in Pho. But, they're mainly of or derived from beef/cow parts. Fish ball is not one of the type of meat in Pho, beef meat ball is. That is why many times, we call it Pho B(B2=beef/cow) to differentiate from a similar noodle soup, Pho Gà (gà =chicken). Chicken Pho is made slightly different.

I usually just "wing" Chow Mein, therefore I am not sure how authentic mine is. Here is a recipe I have not tried, it's from a very old cookbook my mom gave me back in the 70's. Chow Mein with Pork and Shrimp from Madame Won's Long Life Chinese Cookbook 1/2 lb Chinese fresh water noodles 9 T oil 4 oz fresh shrimp, shelled, deveined and cut into pieces 1-1/4 tsp salt 1/2 tsp cornstarch 1/2 lb lean pork, shredded 1 T sherry 2 T light soy sauce 1/2 tsp sugar 1/2 lb bok choy 2 dried black mushrooms, soaked in boiling watr 20 min., stems removed , shredded 2 T chicken stock 1 tsp cornstarch dissolved in 2 tsp water Drop noodles into boiling water, boil 5 minutes. Rinse under cold water, drain. Mix noodles with 1T of oil. Mix shrimp with 1/4 tsp salt and cornstarch. Heat 1 T of oil in wok to 400F and stir fry shrimp until they turn pink, about 1 minute. Remove, set aside. Heat 2 T oil in wok to 400F. Stir fry pork until color changes. Add sherry, 1 T soy sauce, and sugar. Stir fry 1 minute. Remove, set aside. Heat 2 T oil in wok to 400F. Stir fry bok choy 1 minute. Add pork, mushrooms, 1 tsp salt, 1 T soy sauce. Add stock, cook 3 minutes. Thicken with dissolved cornstarch. Add shrimp, bring to a boil. Remove, set aside. Heat 3T oil in wok to 350F, stir fry noodles (they will form a cake) until outside is golden brown but inside is soft. Cook 5 minutes on each side. Remove to platter, place shrimp/pork mixture on top of noodles. Serve Linda