An Artist's Pho, Inspired by His Childhood in Vietnam
Danh Vo’s take on the traditional aromatic soup is, if he says so himself, “getting better than my mother’s.”
'In “One Good Meal,” we ask cooking-inclined creative people to share the story behind a favorite dish they actually make and eat at home on a regular basis — and not just when they’re trying to impress.
Before he was a famous artist, Danh Vo was a boy growing up in Vietnam. The 1970s weren’t exactly stable in that country, so when he was 4, he and his family fled by boat. They wound up in Denmark, where they held onto their heritage through their food. Instead of candy, Vo and his siblings ate sour mangoes dipped in chili. For meals, they often feasted on pho, the aromatic soup. “In Vietnam,” Vo says, “you eat it for breakfast. You eat it for lunch. You eat it for dinner. You just have a good pot standing there, and you can have it for days. So it’s a very practical thing.”
Vo’s mother taught him her recipe when he was young, but he has refined it over the decades to suit his evolving palate (cue the grass-fed beef) and restless lifestyle. Now in his early 40s, he makes it in huge quantities, ritually simmering the broth for hours upon hours until the aroma is so overpowering that he has to open the windows of his Mexico City apartment. Then he calls over a bunch of friends and lays out fresh herbs and other accouterments. “You always have the chili, ginger and fish sauce on the side,” he says. “And people do it themselves. So you cook on the table, basically.”'>>>
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/12/t-magazine/danh-vo-pho-recipe.html?
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I think, back in "No Reservations" days, he thought Vietnam was probably the place he could happily end up in, and pho was his favorite street "dish" there.
Even down here in Montgomery AL, I have two go-to pho sources, Green Papaya and Saigon Bistro. With spices, it's almost a religious experience!
We have a Southeast Asian supply shop up the street, and my wife has bought all the spice flavors and base broths, fresh sides and we made our own! No one else in my southern born-and-raised family will eat it, but I can go to the local masters whenever I crave!
Thank you, Tony. 
