Fee Fi Faux Pho

Okay, so, Skya’s fiancé Michael asked what I was making for dinner and I said, “faux pho,” and he said, “You mean fee fi faux pho?” And I said, “Ha, that’s it. That’s what I’m going to have to call the blog post!” and Fee Fi Faux Pho was born. In case you don’t get it, “pho” is a Vietnamese word pronounced ‘fuh’ like fun, fudge, or other ‘f’ words like that. There, now do you get why Michael is so clever and cute (only two of his amazing attributes)? Ahem… I digress…

I used to love to get pho at a local Vietnamese place, but the MSG, sugar, gluten noodles, factory farm meat, and chemical laden produce soon made me feel kinda pho-nny after (Get it? Like funny but from pho? Prepare yourself, because more bad pho puns are coming).  Pho and I soon parted ways…

Like many foods I cast aside in order to pursue self love, healing and nourishment, I have since recreated what I call faux pho (well, I guess now its Fee Fi Faux Pho), which ironically has more “real” ingredients than what we think of as “real” restaurant pho. Even though it’s a little different, it tastes super duper and really hits the spot. It’s even great for breakfast (why I think we should eat more soup for breakfast is coming up in another post)!

The only minor downside, from a metabolic healing perspective, is that the noodles are higher glycemic than many things we use, but they are optional for folks with blood sugar concerns, and, for healthier folks that want to stay that way, we just don’t eat too many at a time. Even better, we balance it out by taking the liberty of adding plenty of non-starchy vegetables to slow the digestion and absorption of sugar. Most pho isn’t very veggie intensive, but we had our way with it! It’s all about balance, listening to your body’s cues and customizing to your personal needs.

The broth is key! So, definitely check out our amazingly comprehensive bone broth post. I infuse this bone broth with star anise, ginger, cinnamon sticks, coriander, cloves and white pepper. This makes it pho-nominal (see I warned you)!

Marinated grilled chicken and fresh herbs like thai basil, cilantro and spearmint are a veritable celebration of the senses. Here I used local vegetables that grow well without chemicals here in Hawaii and can be found at local farmers’ markets.

I chose steamed baby bok choy…

…and grilled long squash (you could use yellow or zucchini squash instead).

Note: The bell peppers are not in the recipe, but I wanted to take advantage of a hot grill to roast me some peppers.

For the noodles, I used ramen. Ramen? What the pho? (That’s the name of a local pho place, by the way. If they can say that, so can we, right? And, this was the last pho pun, so you can relax now).

I usually associate ramen with why I gained 40 lbs my freshman year in college (also, pizza, soda, microwave popcorn and dorm cafeteria food). I associate it with gluten and an MSG-sugar-toxic chemical “flavor” packet leaving me feeling dazed and confused (and needing a nap or triple espresso). But, not all ramen is created equal…

I used forbidden rice ramen (organic black, brown and white rice made into noodles), so its inherently gluten and other nasty stuff free. You can use whatever gluten free noodle/ pasta suits your fancy, meaning your digestive capacity, health goals and palate. Mainly, I chose forbidden rice ramen on this round because of its gorgeous purple color (indicative of its nutrients). I first tried it when my beautiful friends and power couple, Tataya and Thomas Radtke (of BeAvalon.com and UnfoldingPotential.com), were having it for dinner with their kids, and monkey see, monkey do… (which is okay when the other monkeys are health conscious, too).

It’s an entertaining, elegant and tasty dinner party dish where you can lay out the ingredients for everyone to customize. So, go forth and make pho! Let us know how you like it and feel free to share any variations you make in the comments below.