Review of Take Out Kit's Vietnamese Pho Noodle Soup
Review Summary
Living in San Francisco for nearly 20 years, more than a few times I enjoyed an incredible bowl of steaming hot Pho, served in a hole in the wall restaurant. And since moving to the burbs, I find myself thinking back to those meals, and regularly longing for something more exotic than Applebee's, and significantly better tasting, than a jar of something, bought in the Asian isle at the local grocery store.
With Take Out Kit, I've found what I'm looking for.
Now, their Pho admittedly is not as good as the truly authentic versions I've gotten in my hole in the wall shops, but I was honestly blown away with the flavors I was able to get with this kit.
Take Out Kit meals are shipped without fresh proteins or veggies. Which sounds odd. But I've found out it actually works pretty well. My Pho came with canned tofu, but there are directions for adding your own protein if you'd like. All the other ingredients are either dried (mushrooms), spice blends, or flavor packets that you add to water to form the stock.
The ingredients really did come together, and I didn't notice the lack of fresh food in the finished product. I did notice, that there is almost no prep work, and I had everything cooked in about 30 minutes.
The kit costs $32.99 and comes with four servings. I found there was plenty of food for 4 adults.
Bottom line, I really enjoyed this meal. It was simple. It was tasty. And was it far better tasting than what I'm able to get anywhere close to my house. So please, give it a try and let me know how it goes.
Ingredients
As I mentioned above, Take Out Kit does not ship fresh ingredients, and each box you get is shelf stable. That's nice, in that you don't have to unpack anything right way, and there's no pressure to get a meal cooked before the end of the week and the ingredients go bad.
Essentially all of the ingredients you'll get are spices, flavor packets and canned/boxed goods. Everything in the box looked and tasted great. Everything seemed high quality and was well packages and cared for. The Vietnamese Pho box included:
- Whole spice packet
- Pho concentrate packets
- Rice noodles
- Rock sugar
- Sirracha
- Hoisin
- Lime juice packets
- Dried mushrooms
- Dried green chili
- Dried scallion and cilatro
- Tofu (optional)
Making the dish
Since there is no fresh ingredients shipped in the box, there is relatively little in the way of prep work. That makes cooking this dish really quite simple.
There's a recipe card that comes in the box, that provides some nice pictures, context about the origins of the recipe, and of course directions (and tips) for cooking the Pho. They break the process down into six steps:
- Prep the lime juice & tofu: The (optional) can of tofu is easily opened and drained. The pieces are then cut (usually in half) to make them bite size. The more interesting step is "making" the lime juice. Take Out Kit provided packets of powder, which when added to a few tablespoons of water, make lime juice. And not chemical/bad/Kool-aid tasting lime juice, but juice I'd happily use. That is a plus.
- Toast the Spices: This is probably the only part of the recipe you might mess up. There is a small sachet of whole spices, that you are supposed to toast in a dry pan on medium heat. It's a common and smart technique to get more flavor out of them. But if you don't watch it, the spices could burn, which will give the broth an odd flavor. So don't walk away while you're doing it. After toasting, you put the spices back in the cloth bag, and give them a gentle crush, so they add more flavor to the broth.
- Create the Pho Broth & Cook the Noodles: This step is super easy. 10 cups of water + the Pho flavor packets + the toasted spices over the heat. You then bring a separate pot of water to the boil to cook the noodles.
- Add the Tofu & Mushrooms: Here you add the tofu & mushrooms (so it's an aptly named step) to the broth, and let everything simmer together. You'll also add the rock sugar to the broth.
- Cook the Rice Noodles: The noddles are easy to cook, you simply add them to the boiling water and then shut the heat off. They soften in about 7 minutes. You can then drain, and they are ready to serve.
- Plate & Enjoy: After a total simmer time of about 20 minutes you can plate by putting the noddles in the bowl and then ladle the broth over them. You then have lots of garnish for the soup...lime juice, sriracha, hoisin, green chili, herbs....so you can customize it to your taste.
The whole process was really very simple. I was considerably skeptical about not having any fresh ingredients, but they did a great job making a kit that's easy to make and tastes great.
Taste
As I already mentioned, I really like the flavors of this dish. I'm sure if I had 8 hours, and lots and lots and lots of experience making Pho, i could develop better, richer, more complex flavors. But let's be honest, that's never going to happen.
In 30 minutes I was able to make a dish that I really don't know how to make at all. And it tasted not only good enough, but really good. I'd order this kit again in a second.
The basic broth, the flavor of which comes from the Pho packets, has a deep, rich flavor that provides the base/body for the whole soup. The mushrooms, tofu and noodles really just add some different texture components.
The "character" of the soup really comes from the garnishes that you're able to add on (to each individual bowl) upon serving. If you like it spicier, that's easy to do. Like it sweeter, that's easy to do. Like it more tart, that's easy to do.
Because you have so make options, i think just about everyone will be happy.
Take Out Kit's Vietnamese Pho Noodle Soup
Overall
If you've read this far (congratulations, you're probably the only one), you already know that I'm a big fan of this recipe.
It's NOT very typical that I get a meal kit cooked, and after tasting it, feel there is no way I could do it better on my own. That's the case for this Pho. And it was easy to do.
I'd highly recommend this kit. I hope you give it a try. I know that I'm going to be ordering some more.
Let me know how it goes.
Comments (493 )
I am curious to find out what blog system you’re utilizing? I’m experiencing some minor security problems with my latest website and I’d like to find Asiktogelku
An impressive share, I recently given this onto a colleague who has been conducting a small analysis on this. And that he in truth bought me breakfast since I stumbled upon it for him.. smile. So well then, i’ll reword that: Thnx for your treat! But yeah Thnkx for spending the time to discuss this, I am strongly over it and love reading regarding this topic. If you can, as you grow expertise, would you mind updating your site with increased details? It can be extremely useful for me. Huge thumb up in this writing! Asiktogelku
Spitze Da weiss man, wo es hingehen muss Liebe Grüsse Moni situs online terbaru
Hello I am so delighted I located your blog, I really located you by mistake, while I was watching on google for something else, Anyways I am here now and could just like to say thank for a tremendous post and a all round entertaining website. Please do keep up the great work. Credit resources reviews
After study just a few of the blog posts in your web site now, and I actually like your means of blogging. I bookmarked it to my bookmark website listing and will probably be checking again soon. Pls check out my web page as properly and let me know what you think. asiktogelku
Hello! I just wanted to ask if you ever have any issues with hackers? My last blog (wordpress) was hacked and I ended up losing many months of hard work due to no backup. Do you have any solutions to protect against hackers? asiktogelku
Only a few blogger would discuss this topic the way you do.~,”*; argo4d
well done . Thanks for info . Ill be back. Thanks again argo4d
well done . Thanks for info . Ill be back. Thanks again argo4d
Cheers for this excellent. I was wondering whether you were planning of publishing similar posts to this. .Keep up the excellent articles! ratugacor
Thanks for the information provided! I was researching for this article for a long time, but I was not able to see a dependable source. ratugacor
I know this is one of the most meaningful information for me. And I'm animated reading your article. But should remark on some general things, the website style is perfect; the articles are great. Thanks for the ton of tangible and attainable help. https://www.stilnoxs.com/
Wow, cool post. I'd like to write like this too - taking time and real hard work to make a great article... but I put things off too much and never seem to get started. Thanks though. Post Contruction Cleaning Canberra
We guarantee authentic brands avoiding inferior commercial imitations, or even dangerous counterfeits. Jeff Stoll
Wow, What a Excellent post. I really found this to much informatics. It is what i was searching for.I would like to suggest you that please keep sharing such type of info.Thanks brianclub cm
Paris Hilton: So lovely spending time with Manny and h game teknologi canggih
To make the health system efficient, a centralized electronic health record system should be developed and implemented. This would ensure that patients could access care in any region. Thus it would make it easy to access health records from any healthcare facility owned and administered within any regional authority. It is expected that the Ministry of Health should take a leading role in this enterprise. Records of patients in private hospitals should be accessible to regional authorities given that they may be moved to a public hospital if the care they require cannot be attained there. Sometimes for financial reasons such as exorbitant cost, patients may be moved to a public hospital. https://enhancedlivingmarketplace.myshopify.com/
More about Community-based Health Centers We all know a nation's wealth is determined by the health and well-being of its citizens. Community health centers across the country provide special care for everyone irrespective of their ability to pay. Their main aim is to provide continued, high quality and affordable healthcare to people especially those with fewer resources. https://enhancedlivingmarketplace.myshopify.com/
Making a sale or pushing a business proposition is never an easy task to accomplish for some, therefore having the relevant assisting tools at hand should provide the individual with some encouragement to see the process to success. https://enhancedlivingmarketplace.myshopify.com/
I rattling glad to find this website on bing, just what I was looking for : D as well saved to fav. https://blogotepeque.com/
I have been checking out a few of your stories and i can state pretty good stuff. I will definitely bookmark your blog mystic monks scandal
Fortunate we discovered this excellent website, One other good website is Dbol will be certain to save this in order to check-out regularly. 英文補習
Howdy! Do you use Twitter? I’d like to follow you if that would be okay. I’m absolutely enjoying your blog and look forward to new updates. 英文補習
Wow, What a Excellent post. I really found this to much informatics. It is what i was searching for.I would like to suggest you that please keep sharing such type of info.Thanks tea and the Industrial Revolution
Great information, better still to find out your blog that has a great layout. Nicely done video bokep abg
Once again I found exactly what I was looking for. bokep
Hello there, just became alert to your blog through Google, and found that it’s truly informative. I’m gonna watch out for brussels. I will appreciate if you continue this in future. A lot of people will be benefited from your writing. Cheers! video ngentot
Savor a meticulously crafted cocktail in my inviting atmosphere. Seminyak dinner
Only strive to mention one's content can be as incredible. This clarity with your post is superb! Thanks a lot, hundreds of along with you should go on the pleasurable get the job done. brians clun
Wow, What a Excellent post. I really found this to much informatics. It is what i was searching for.I would like to suggest you that please keep sharing such type of info.Thanks download tv series
Wow, What a Excellent post. I really found this to much informatics. It is what i was searching for.I would like to suggest you that please keep sharing such type of info.Thanks download tv series
My spouse and I stumbled over here by a different web address and thought I might check things out. I like what I see so i am just following you. Look forward to checking out your web page again. Buy psychedelics in Australia
Thank you very much for this great post. Herbert Walter Dahmer
There a few interesting points over time here but I don’t know if I see them all center to heart. There exists some validity but Let me take hold opinion until I look into it further. Very good post , thanks and now we want more! Included with FeedBurner at the same time koplo77
I like this web site its a master peace ! Glad I detected this on google . acim
Thanks a lot for sharing this excellent info! I am looking forward to seeing more posts by you as soon as possible! I have judged that you do not compromise on quality. เว็บบอลที่ดีที่สุด
Some really superb info , Sword lily I found this. Buy Mounjaro online
https://mtpolic.com
Description:
먹튀폴리스- 국내 및 해외 전문가들과 함께 먹튀검증을 진행하고 있으며, 먹튀사이트 및 안전사이트를 추려 회원분들에게 더 건강한 문화를 제공합니다. 먹튀검증을 꼭 받으셔서 피해보시는일 없길 바랍니다.
먹튀검증
먹튀폴리스
먹튀사이트
먹튀검증사이트
https://mtpolic.com/
Every day a new online casino is launched and joins a large list with thousands of gambling sites. Choose one of them to play isn't a easy task, especially considering that many of them are just scam. This article takes place exactly to help you to choose the best gambling site that fits your wishes. You will discover few key issues you should always keep in mind while deciding in which casino you will play at. After read you will be familiarized with this powerful set of key points that would help you a lot to make a safer casino choice. บาคาร่า
Every day a new online casino is launched and joins a large list with thousands of gambling sites. Choose one of them to play isn't a easy task, especially considering that many of them are just scam. This article takes place exactly to help you to choose the best gambling site that fits your wishes. You will discover few key issues you should always keep in mind while deciding in which casino you will play at. After read you will be familiarized with this powerful set of key points that would help you a lot to make a safer casino choice. บาคาร่า
https://boostarticles.com is connects expert authors in hundreds of niches, offering exposure through quality article submissions. Join us for free articles and content.
https://boostarticles.com
free article
free content
article submission
Comfortabl y, the post is really the freshest on this deserving topic. I harmonise with your conclusions and definitely will thirstily look forward to your next updates. Just saying thanks definitely will not simply just be adequate, for the extraordinary clarity in your writing. I can directly grab your rss feed to stay informed of any updates. Gratifying work and also much success in your business dealings! wholesale dermal fillers near me
I am typically to blogging and i really appreciate your content regularly. This content has really peaks my interest. I’m going to bookmark your web site and maintain checking for first time information. Website Kontol
Attractive, post. I just stumbled upon your weblog and wanted to say that I have liked browsing your blog posts. After all, I will surely subscribe to your feed, and I hope you will write again soon!
[url=https://bbcnewsmagazine.com/10-warning-signs-of-mold-toxicity-you-should... Warning Signs of Mold Toxicity[/url]
Tour Danau Toba Semakin Di Depan
Manfaatkan Penawaran Program Paket Wisata Medan 5 Hari 4 Malam
Banyak program wisata di Sumatera Utara yang ditawarkan kepada wisatawan sebagai buah karya dari travel agent di Sumatera Utara. Salah satu dari program tour danau toba yang paling diminati wisatawan domestik adalah paket tour medan 5 hari 4 malam. Alasan utamanya adalah karena program tour ini cukup panjang sehingga memungkinkan para wisatawan untuk menikmati semua destinasi yang ada di kawasan Danau Toba, Berastagi dan Kota Medan.
Dewasa ini semakin banyak pilihan setelah dioperasikannya Bandara Kuala Namu Medan sejak tahun 2014 silam, sehingga banyak objek wisata di Kawasan Danau Toba bagian selatan yang kini terekspos.
Program Tour 5 Hari 4 Malam
Program tour danau toba jenis ini menjadwalkan hari pertama anda akan menginap di Kota Parapat. Salah satu kota wisata paling terkenal di pinggir Danau Toba, di mana banyak sekali hotel berbintang dan non-bintang yang siap menampung semua wisatawan baik wisatawan asing maupun wisatawan domestik. Anda dapat menentukan pilihan hotel yang anda suka apakah anda senang menginap di dekat danau atau memilih hotel yang berlokasi di puncak bukit untuk menikmati pemandangan yang lebih luas.
Hari berikutnya anda akan dibawa menyeberang ke Pulau Samosir melalui sebuah program bernama paket tour danau toba dengan kapal motor carter bila anda berangkat bersama group minimal 15 orang. Anda akan mengunjungi Desa Tomok dan Desa Ambarita. Di dua lokasi ini anda akan menyaksikan kayaknya tradisi dan budaya yang dimiliki oleh masyarakat Batak Toba termasuk menari tortor di Ambarita. Hari kedua ini biasanya menginap di Pulau Samosir. Demikian program paket wisata danau toba yang kami kelola.
Strategi Memajukan Objek Wisata Danau Toba
1.
Membangun Infrastruktur Danau Toba
Untuk informasi bagi anda bahwa Pulau Samosir atau Kabupaten Samosir merupakan satu dari tujuh Kabupaten stake holder yang paling aktif dalam melakukan aktivitas pembangunan sarana dan prasarana. Setiap Kabupaten tentu saja berlomba-lomba untuk membangun dan memperbaiki objek wisata masing-masing agar diminati wisatawan.
2.
Meningkatkan Aktifitas Marketing
Tidak hanya membuat atraksi dan membangun objek wisata, aktifitas marketing sangat dibutuhkan untuk memperkenalkan objek wisata kepada khalayak ramai. Banyak sebenarnya yang bisa dilakukan, dimulai dari membuat event dengan mengundang pihak-pihak relevan dan kompeten, sales call ke perusahaan dan travel agent serta mengikuti beberapa acara table top local maupun internasional.
Wonderful goods from you, man. I’ve understand your stuff previous to and you’re just too magnificent. I actually like what you’ve acquired here, certainly like what you are stating and the way in which you say it. You make it enjoyable and you still take care of to keep it wise. I cant wait to read much more from you. This is really a tremendous site. 英文補習
Excellent article. Very interesting to read. I really love to read such a nice article. Thanks! keep rocking. ztec100.com
You must be very astute at research and writing. This shows up in your original and unique content. I agree with your primary points on this topic. This content should be seen by more readers. πασχαλινές λαμπάδες
I have been exploring for a little bit for any high-quality articles or blog posts on this sort of area . Exploring in Yahoo I at last stumbled upon this website. Reading this information So i am happy to convey that I’ve an incredibly good uncanny feeling I discovered exactly what I needed. I most certainly will make certain to do not forget this web site and give it a glance regularly. πασχαλινες λαμπαδες