On 22/01/2015 2:21 PM, sf wrote:
> On Thu, 22 Jan 2015 10:28:50 +1100, Xeno >
> wrote:
>
>> On 22/01/2015 7:52 AM, sf wrote:
>>>
>>> Are you the poster with a Thai wife? Does she ever make Bo Kho?
>>> If she does, is it served with noodles or with rice? TIA
>>>
>> Thais have a version of that. Bo Kho is a Vietnamese dish and, as such,
>> will use some different spices. I am not particularly fond of the
>> particular mix of Vietnamese spices they use.
>>
>> The stuff she makes tends to be more like this with lemongrass for sure.
>>
>> http://tinyurl.com/mekgtxy
>
> Thank you, saving the link.
>>
>> Generally used on noodles too. These stews she makes tend to be a bit
>> watery for use on rice.
>>
>> I had something that looked just like this a few weeks ago;
>>
>> http://tinyurl.com/owtk5ow
>
> Wow! Looks delicious.
>>
>> She quite often makes a Thai version of it. Probably not much different
>> to the Vietnamese version, slight variation in spices. The beef and the
>> carrot are prepared almost exactly like that, sometime with the addition
>> of boiled potato... and, as I said before, on noodles.
>>
>> The Thai way of eating is with a mix of foods on the table (or floor as
>> the case may be), each in their own bowl and a pot of steamed or fried
>> rice. What they do is put some rice on their plate, then pick from
>> whatever dish they fancy to eat with their rice. In this manner you can
>> have the stew with (on) rice but you keep the stew and the rice separate
>> until eating and let the diners pick from the side dishes as is their
>> desire. As I said, the stew tends to be a bit watery to be preprepared
>> "on" rice in the same manner as it is in the above pics "on" noodles.
>> Served separately is Ok and I have had it with rice in those circumstances.
>>
>> HTH
>
> It did! Thank you so much! I thought son told me it was Thai.

It's quite possible but with that name it's definitely Vietnamese. As I
said however, Thais do a lot of similar things. The variation will be in
the detail. I find Vietnamese food too heavy on a single herb, in
particular Vietnamese Mint. Thai food tends to be a blend of flavours
and it works much better than the Vietnamese style. The popularity of
Thai food over all others here attests to that.

> Maybe he thought it was, maybe I misremembered. I'll ask for
> clarification the next time I talk to him.

Wouldn't be overly concerned. When we lived in Melbourne, my wife and
her friends would congregate at a Pho Noodle restaurant for lunch on a
on a Saturday or a Sunday. This one in fact;

http://tinyurl.com/l7tcq7x

A lot of varieties of Pho Noodles. You should try some one day, if you
have a Pho restaurant nearby that is. The Pho Noodles are very similar
to Thai Noodles... my wife's friends seemed happy enough with them.

> I'll also pass on what you said. That
> Bon Appétit recipe looks like it has pretty much the same ingredients
> as what he told me he did (I think his called for 5 spice mix + whole
> star anise & cinnamon, heat etc). I tasted the soup and it was
> delicious... we didn't stay for dinner, because we needed to deliver
> another grandchild home before the freeway rush hour was in full
> swing.

I left the freeway rush hours behind me when I left Melbourne a few
years back.. You are welcome to it.
>
> He said he served his bo kho with rice noodles. I was thinking they
> were "glass noodles" - but I'm not sure now. I'll ask about that too.

They might well have been. My wife uses all kinds of noodles in dishes
she makes. We used the glass noodles recently in a batch of spring
rolls. We made over 100 of the blasted things.. easier to buy them but
you don't get a choice as to what's in them. Speaking of spring rolls,
you should try some of these Vietnamese Spring Rolls if you get an
opportunity.
http://tinyurl.com/mxsz6tv

The dipping sauce is an essential and enhances the flavour immensely. My
wife's friend ran a Thai Restaurant and Takeaway. She made absolutely
delightful Vietnamese Spring Rolls. Sadly she has now sold that business
and may not get into another food related business.

> In any case, he wasn't happy with the noodles and thought it would
> have been better with rice. That's why I asked how you do it at home.
>
> Thanks again.
>
I must admit, I prefer that style of "stew" with rice. You might need to
make it somewhat less watery so that, when adding it to the rice on the
plate at the table, it doesn't drown everything. Nothing worse than
drowned rice. I speak from experience! ;-)

--

Xeno.