Miko from Seattle worked very hard to make an authentic pho noodle soup of his own last year. He was aghast at a lobster pho recipe presented on an episode of Emeril Lagasse's show that airs on the food network.
The recipe has you simmer broth ingredients for about 15 minutes and though there's star anise, there are also lobster bodies. Strain the broth and serve over rice noodles with lobster meat. Miko says on the show, there were some sliced cooked pork and Chinese sausages too but no bean sprouts. In the online recipe I saw no Chinese sausage (lop cheung/lap suong) but the sprouts were there. It's like a quick noodle soup that he made, and not a pho. But he had to frame it in some manner that fit the episode, which was called "Lovin' Lobster" and orginally aired in 2006.
Strange... there are many kinds of inventive pho that feature seafood but I've never seen one with lobster. I don't think you'd get a big bowl for less than $20!
I've held you in suspense long enough. Here's a link to the recipe:
What are your reactions?
We saw that show last night and my husband and I couldn't believe our eyes. Lemongrass, star anise, and a hodge podge of other veggies were thrown into a mix with the lobster broth to make lobster "pho". The clincher was when he brought out the lap xuong. We were laughing so hard it was hysterical. I'm sure pho purist are appauled by this, but I'm just glad we're getting some press. I'm glad Emeril likes pho enough to take a stab at it and make his own version. Mario Battali also made a version of Banh Mi on a segment of Iron Chief after this visit to VN. So by the looks of things, Viet food is making quite a splash on the food circuit =) Yay!
Posted by: anh | March 11, 2008 at 06:17 PM
Well, in the photo on the recipe you can see the slice of pork. Seems like he threw everything in there!
Yep, it's good that people are popularizing Viet food. It's better that there are those who are discerning too!
Posted by: Andrea Nguyen | March 11, 2008 at 08:02 PM
Well, it's got a lot of the requisite pho broth characteristics, so I'll give him that. Also, Emeril has been a Vietnamese food champion for a long time - the sous chef of his LA namesake restaurant at one point was Vietnamese. Back in the late-to-mid-nineties, I saw him make bun thit bo nuong on his "Essence of Emeril" show (this was prior to the annoying live audience format) and he made "nuoc chAAAAAAAAHM" sauce, and he said it like a dozen times, each time with the overwrought, heavy, New Englander/Good Will Hunting accent, and it was very entertaining.
Posted by: The Guilty Carnivore | March 12, 2008 at 01:07 PM
There are lots of Viet people in LA so it's natural for him to include Viet stuff in his shows. He had a beef pho years ago that was more traditional, I believe. In this instance, it would have been nice if he said this was a shorty riff.
Posted by: Andrea Nguyen | March 13, 2008 at 04:26 AM
Well it is apparent that the vietnamese cuisine is making its way into America. Our most popular are probably Pho, Vietnamese coffee, goi cuon, and the sandwiches. Unfortunately, the Americans are butchering the Vietnamese foods....well at least it's good publicity. Fresh Choice has Pho Noodle bowl.....and check this out, there's carrots in there??? Cheesecake Factory has Vietnamse spring rolls on their menu, but when I ate it, the whole time I was thinking "how hard is it to roll some vegetables together and make a peanut sauce?" Once again, just like Fresh Choice, they're very inventive with our foods :). For people who never ate Pho before, and they go to Fresh Choice and eat Pho Noodle Bowl, they might run away from Vietnamese foods.
Posted by: Zach | March 14, 2008 at 03:56 PM
Emeril can't cook Asian. Everytime I've watched him try, I bust out laughing derisively.
Posted by: Nate 2.0 | March 18, 2008 at 11:39 PM
Wonerful viet Recipes Keep up the good Work
Posted by: Murray Podro | March 19, 2008 at 06:31 AM
Emeril, honey. nonono!
Andrea, he shoulda had you on as a guest chef!
Posted by: Steamy Kitchen | March 31, 2008 at 11:48 AM
Jaden, you're too much!
Posted by: Andrea Nguyen | April 20, 2008 at 11:37 AM
This is a late comment but I just found this post! What can you expect from a professional who calls jalapeños "halapeenos" even though he can pronounce andouille correctly!
Anyway, it definitely seems more like a Thai noodle soup to me.
Is cilantro really used that much in pho? I have always been served culantro (ngo gai) and used it at home when making pho. I love lobster and may use Emeril's recipe as a starting point but not as a finished product!
Posted by: Dennis M Reed | May 11, 2010 at 06:08 AM