Nem Nuong Khanh Hoa, Alhambra – Pho Gone Wild
As annoying as the commercials are, I find them hilarious. Imagine. You get married to the woman of your dreams and you have a baby girl. So angelic, so beautiful. She kisses you good night every night and tells you that your her hero. Next thing you know, she’s ‘developing’ in jr. high and no longer hugs you anymore because she has a crush at school. Her nights are spent inside her room on the phone, and no longer in the living room. Then she starts going to dances and before you know it, she’s on her way to college. Your sweet little girl is going to become a woman finally. But god forbid that one night, at around 2:43 am, you see your daughter taking a beer bong out of a halved sparkletts water jug on Channel 13 for what seems like a ‘documentary’ on college life. An office-size jug. God forbid. When we have children one day, we all just have to let go and pray that she stays on the right path.
And its the same way I perceive the Central Vietnamese noodle soup called ‘bun bo hue’, literally meaning ‘noodles + beef + from the Hue region. We all know pho, the celebrated beef noodle soup from Vietnam. Pure in broth, flavor and texture… with simple additions that make this one bowl of heaven. But after one wild weekend in Hue, pho is no longer pho. She’s lost a lot of beef and has grown other stuff, like braised beef, pork blood cubes, pork knuckles and pork sausage. Her hair is no longer a light yellow/brown, it’s red. And boy has her attitude changed, no longer quiet and subtle with gestures, she’s loud and not afraid to bite. Think of it as noodle soup gone wild.
In actuality, this soup has no resemblance to pho. The soup is completely different in taste because the predominant ingredient is lemongrass in a slightly spicy beef broth. Toppings usually consist of pork knuckles and pork blood cubes. For garnishing, bean sprouts, red cabbage, mint and lime are used. I searched the Chowhound boards and learned about a place in Alhambra called Nem Nuong Khanh Hoa, not to be confused with Nem Nuong Ninh Hoa in Rosemead.
Bun Bo Hue (Lemongrass-Flavored Beef Bone Soup with Noodles)
This comes with one large pork knuckle, pork blood cubes, braised beef shank slices and pork meatloaf (gia lua). If you don’t want any of the above, simply let them know. The shank and meatloaf are good. You can buy your own meatloaf for only $2! The noodles are made with rice and as thick as spaghetti noodles (unlike the thin pho rice noodles) but go very well with the soup. The soup is so good that I’ll actually doggy-baggy it and eat it the next day. Eat this with the fixings, the red cabbage, bean sprouts, mint and lime really take this dish to another level. If you want to spice this up, I suggest you use the sriracha chili garlic sauce (has seeds in it) versus the traditional non-seed chili sauce used for pho. No hoisin allowed in here!!! $5.25
Centerfold of the Pork Knuckle
Usually comes with the skin on, but once you get past that, the meat is very tender.
Pork Blood Cubes
Not everyone will like this, but I think it’s delicious. I think of it as chocolate and gobble it up.
Bun Bo Hue Fixings
Red cabbage, bean sprouts, lime, jalapeno, mint and this one herb I can never identify. Wandering Chopsticks, Master of Vietnamese food, please identify this for me!
Nem Nuong Rolls (3 for $3.75)
You can choose to order these pre-rolled or you can try and have some fun and get your hands dirty. These contain lettuce, a crispy shrimp roll, charbroiled pork and a chive. The sauce used is similar to nuoc cham, but is thicker because it has beaten egg and sometimes honey in it. The rolls are good, but not quite as good as Brodard in Little Saigon, Westminster. If you decide to order the nem nuong party pack, you’ll receive a whole plate of various meats including the charbroiled pork, sour pork patties (good!) and crispy shrimp rolls. A bowl of hot water is provided for you to soak rice paper and roll your own joint up.
Centerfold of Nem Nuong Charboiled Pork Rolls
Cha gio egg rolls go well with pho, and these go well with Bun Bo Hue, in my opinion.
Super Perverted Food Porn Close-Up
Notice the crispy egg rolls contain small pieces of shrimp. This is true dedication. It’s like rolling a taquito within another taquito without making it big like a burrito.
Wandering Chopsticks was helpful enough to explain the sauce to me. Check out her version of nem nuong on skewers.
Nem Nuong Khanh Hoa
1700 W Valley Blvd.
Alhambra, CA 91804
(626) 943-7645
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July 10th, 2007 at 11:37 pm
Haha! NNKH or NNNH showdown! Thanks for the shoutout. Potato starch as a binding ingredient? I’ve never heard of that being used. Or oil for that matter. It’s already fatty from the pork.
I really need to check out this place though.
The herb you can’t ID is rau ram, or VNese coriander.
July 10th, 2007 at 11:42 pm
Or you mean the purple leaf herb? That’s tia to, purple perilla/shiso/sesame leaves.
July 10th, 2007 at 11:48 pm
Hmmm… blood. I was just watching that Travel Channel show, Bizare Foods the other day and they had blood cubes. The host is a little lame, but the food looks good.
July 11th, 2007 at 5:05 am
You’re getting me all hot and sweaty with this post!
July 11th, 2007 at 6:47 am
i think this is the first time i’ve seen a girls gone wild: vietnamese pho analogy. they should post that on the SAT. all the asian kids would get it right.
July 11th, 2007 at 8:17 am
I love these noodles and so far I haven’t seen a local pho place that can make it as you’ve described. The broth is a much darker shade of red and it although it tastes good to me, it probably isn’t as good as the bowl you just had. *sigh* Maybe I should ask TigerFish for recs.
July 11th, 2007 at 9:12 am
Those infomercials and HSN help me sleep if all else fails. And yes, if my said baby girl turns to the dark side of GGW, I’d die. BAH!!!
I don’t know why I think pho is bland. Every time I try it, I’m not sold. But these noodles look and sound delicious! I’d even try the pork blood… *shudders*
Your photos are absolutely delicious! Slurp!
July 11th, 2007 at 9:38 am
hawt damn, this place is down the street from our house. bun bo hue, here i come!
btw, the GGW angle is most creative; it’s funny how all of us are all too familiar with those late night infomercials. if not GGW, then it’s some 1-900-party line, get rich quick scheme, infomercial for useless gadgetry or car insurance commercial targeting people that don’t have it. gotta love all those sleepless nights.
July 11th, 2007 at 10:17 am
WC, i know too many acronyms. NNKH is definitely the longest one I’ve had to use. I read somewhere that someone used potato starch to bind meat, could be wrong or a ‘gwai-lo’ technique. Thanks, RAU RAM is it, not the purple parilla herb. i’ll remember that. I’m sure Bolsa has way better BBH, but for SGV, supposed to be good.
J!, that show is ok. I don’t think the guy is as respectful as he should be if he’s going into foreign food territory. Of course it’s going to be bizarre dude, you’re american.
SteamyK, haha. It’s really not hot & spicy. I was exaggerating for the purpose of the GGW/pho analogy.
Jinius, haha that would be a great question:
nun:pho as GGW: ?????
hi jaded, wait where are you located? most vietnamese places will offer this dish.
bola, where are you eating pho? don’t tell me le saigon in west la. it’s pure sh*t. thanks!
July 11th, 2007 at 10:43 am
I need Nem Nuong and Bun Bo Hue now!!!
DG…we’ll meet you there…sooo damn good!
July 11th, 2007 at 10:51 am
DG, i think you’ll like this place. soup is really good.
July 11th, 2007 at 1:33 pm
I love love love coming here to read the way you talk about food. The blood cubes, though, I still have not wrapped my mind around that one.
July 11th, 2007 at 1:57 pm
I live in Northern California (San Jose area). I know that a lot of places serve bun bo hue, but I want a place that specializes in it.. or a place that makes it better what I’ve had so far.
July 11th, 2007 at 6:15 pm
scrumptious photos!
*stomach rumbling*
July 12th, 2007 at 4:35 pm
One thing I can’t do is the cubes of blood.
For some reason whenever I’m watching the late night repeat of The Colbert Report, and one of those Girls Gone Wild commercials come on, I feel shame, humiliation, and embarrassment, which is soon followed by incensed outrage. In other words, I feel almost Republican.
July 14th, 2007 at 5:52 pm
yo d,
just came back from eating bun bo hue here. i liked it alot…you’re right, the soup is damn good! the only thing was that the noodles were a little too much on the soft side–woulda liked them if they were a little more al dente. prolly just an off-batch. thanks for the rec!
July 17th, 2007 at 9:26 pm
I hope you only know about Girls Gone Wild from the late-night infomercials (and not from the rental store)!
And thanks for your reassuring words D. I am so glad I got to meet you and J through food blogging, it is always so fun to read your posts and see your fun-loving personality shine through.
July 17th, 2007 at 9:36 pm
Pho Gone Wild, huh? A brave new chapter in the general greatness that is food porn.
July 22nd, 2007 at 12:41 am
dylan, you brought tears to my eyes with this entry. back in the day, noodle world use to serve bun bo hue and ceased to serve it. i was so sad because i never knew the name of it until now and where they serve it until now…
thanks!
July 23rd, 2007 at 5:16 pm
Just came across your blog accidentally (can’t remember what I was trying to look up) – love it! Great pictures too – can’t wait to read more about good places to eat in LA.
July 24th, 2007 at 11:57 pm
I love Bun Bo Hue. It’s probably my Taiwanese blood. Pile on the pig knuckles and pork blood tofu!
I hate rau ram. It’s got a truly foul odor.
August 7th, 2007 at 3:59 pm
Mmm – the pork blood cubes look especially good. I had the Finnish version on New Year’s day (believe it or not) 2004, and my Finnish friends were shocked. They said, “You’d definitely impress our grandparents.” I responded, “Remember, I’m Filipino. You don’t even know the half of it.”
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