Meatballs in Pho

Thanks, that was bugging me. They did have tendon on the menu, I guess maybe that's what it was.

The other flavors in the Pho were great, but the meatballs were weird.

Ground beef/pork is cheap enough, why people need to eat cartilage and tendons?

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Ground beef/pork is cheap enough, why people need to eat cartilage and tendons?

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It's not a matter of expense anymore, but preference.

I'll need to try the tendon again, now that I know what I am eating.

You just ordered wrong, people love that stuff. Tendon, tripe, you name it goes into authentic pho and those meatballs are exactly that. They serve pho with rawish round steak or even cooked brisket for the total crackers. I get the round steak and try not to look at what my Vietnamese friends fish out of their soup. Yuk.

I can do the meatballs but I can't do the tripe

The time my Vietnamese buddy and I made it we did it with oxtails

I've never had it like that at a restaurant but would like to try it since they're better at getting the broth just right

Of course they put a lot of MSG and a lot more sugar than I put

Those little meatballs are beef balls. At the Asian markets you can get them in pork, shrimp, fish, or chicken balls also. It depends on the type of noodle soup you're eating that determines which on is put in there.

For pho, it's typically the beef balls. For Hu tieu(clear glass noodles) or Mi, the other ones are used. I'm viet so I love them... but I could see how one is turned off by it. Some are plenty bland... depends on the brand they're using. Some really taste good. If you don't like the texture then you'll probably never like it. But if it's just bland, you can dip it in hoisen sauce mixed with chili paste and eat them on the side.

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The time my Vietnamese buddy and I made it we did it with oxtails

I've never had it like that at a restaurant

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I was under the impression that the stocks for pho were all most commonly made using oxtails. Is this incorrect?

I like the springiness of the Vietnamese meatballs. I assume there is cartilage in there that gives it this quality. I like the "kitchen sink" pho with the rare beef, cooked beef, tendon, tripe and meatballs, the works. Once you get used to the texture, you start to get a Jonesin' for it...

After coming back to this thread today, I couldn't resist the urge and had to go get some Pho Tai Nam from a local place here. Probably not the best ever, but it sure isn't bad.