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

I make tartar sauce similar to Country Sunshine's, but I put chopped stuffed green olives in mine. Here is my recipe for Shrimp Gumbo. I don't measure anything, but this is the basics. 2 ribs celery 1 bell pepper 1 onion Chop and set aside. In heavy skillet or stock pot, make roux of approximately equal parts flour and oil. Bacon grease is actually best...so if you have that...use that. I'd say about 1/3 cup each or a little more. Stir without stopping over medium heat until roux is very brown, but do not burn. Don't stop stirring either. Add chopped celery, onion and bell pepper. Stir it in and turn off the heat. Transfer if using a skillet to pot or if using a stock pot, add 3 to 4 cans chicken broth. Stir until the roux is dissolved, and on low heat, add a small can of tomato sauce. You can add more or chopped tomatoes. I don't like tomato pieces in mine....so I go with the sauce. I just want it to color the gumbo. The gumbo will not have a pretty color at this stage, but will as you finish it. Bring to a boil and when the celery, onion, bell peppers are cooked done, add a bag of frozen, chopped okra. When the okra is done, add shrimp. I use a lot of shrimp...and if I have crabmeat, I put that in too. You can put in any kind of seafood. Some people put in sausage, but I don't because it over powers the flavor of the gumbo. When I don't have seafood, I use chicken. Season to taste. I use Tony Chachere's creole seasoning and thyme. Tony's is flavored salt, and I use it like salt when cooking. Do not over cook the shrimp. As soon as it turns pink, or the liquid starts to boil, turn it off. Sprinkle a liberal amount of gumbo file and stir in well. That will also change the color a little bit. Stir it well so it doesn't kind of make strings in the liquid. A handful of minced green onions is good to add now too...or parsley. Serve over hot, cooked rice. (When you make the rice, put a big lump of butter in it to give it richer flavor.) My husband shrimped for 45 years...we still have couple of shrimp boats. I have cooked hundreds of pots of gumbo and this is recipe that I have worked on over the years. You could make stock from the shrimp shells, but I have found that chicken broth gives it more flavor. It doesn't taste like chicken...so no worry there. A lot of people don't like okra because they think it is slimy. Frozen okra has been blanched...so it isn't slimy. You can use fresh okra too, and it won't be slimy but I doubt any one who doesn't eat okra would believe me...so I say use frozen.

Hi Lars Vietnamese Spring Rolls ingredients 1 recipe Shrimp Filling or Chicken-Crabmeat Filling 1 recipe Lime Dipping Sauce 1 12-ounce bottle warm beer 7 to 9 8-1/2-inch-diameter rice papers 1 head bibb or Boston lettuce, finely shredded Snipped fresh cilantro Snipped fresh mint leaves Snipped daikon (Oriental white radish) directions Prepare Shrimp Filling or Chicken-Crabmeat Filling. Prepare Lime Dipping Sauce; set aside. Pour beer into a pie plate. Carefully dip rice papers into beer, one at a time. Place papers, not touching, on clean, dry kitchen towels. Let soften for a few minutes until pliable. Place 1/4 cup shredded lettuce on bottom part of each rice paper. Place about 1/3 cup filling on the lettuce near the curved edge of the paper. Fold in ends. Beginning at that edge, tightly roll up the rice paper. Place, seam side down, on a plate. Cover with a damp towel. Repeat with remaining filling and papers. Cover and chill up to 2 hours. Diagonally cut each roll in half crosswise. Transfer spring rolls to a serving plate. Serve with bowls of Lime Dipping Sauce, cilantro, mint leaves, and shredded daikon. Makes 14 appetizers. Shrimp Filling: In a bowl pour enough hot water to cover 1 ounce rice sticks and 1 dry wood ear (cloud ear) mushroom. Let stand for 30 minutes to soften. Heat 1 tablespoon cooking oil in a wok or medium skillet. Add 1 tablespoon chopped green onion and 4 minced cloves minced garlic; stir-fry for 30 seconds. Add 1/4 cup shredded carrot and 1/2 teaspoon sugar; stir-fry for 1 minute. Remove pan from heat. Drain rice sticks and wood ear; finely chop. Add to vegetable mixture. Stir in 8 ounces finely chopped, cooked, peeled, and deveined shrimp and 1 tablespoon fish sauce. Chicken-Crabmeat Filling: In a bowl pour enough hot water to cover 1 ounce bean threads (cellophane noodles) and 1/2 ounce dried black Chinese mushrooms. Let stand for 30 minutes to soften. Heat 1 tablespoon cooking oil in a wok or medium skillet . Add 6 ounces finely chopped skinless, boneless chicken breast; stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes or until no longer pink. Push to side of wok. Add 1/4 cup chopped onion and 1 minced clove garlic; stir-fry for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Drain, remove cartilage, and flake one 6- or 7-ounce can crabmeat, or thaw, drain, and flake one 6-ounce package frozen crabmeat. Stir crabmeat and 1 tablespoon fish sauce into chicken mixture. Drain bean threads and mushrooms; finely chop and add to chicken mixture. Lime Dipping Sauce: In serving bowl combine 1/2 cup fresh lime juice, 6 tablespoons fish sauce, 6 tablespoons water, 2 tablespoons sugar, 3 minced cloves garlic, and 2 seeded and minced red chili peppers. Let stand for 30 minutes to 1 hour before serving. Makes 1-1/3 cups. Here is a link that might be useful: vietnam things to do

Since most recipes call for 1-2 tbsp it lasts a long time in the fridge. I used to skip fish sauce cause I'd get cheap and not want to spend $ when it only called for 1-2 tbsp. But when I finally bought it and used it when recipes called for it, my Asian dishes seemed less amateur and more like restaurant food. So now I never skip it.