Pho sure

An alabaster tangle of smooth, bouncy noodles submerged in an intoxicatingly fragrant broth, Asian soup is a thrilling symphony of flavours laced with a furious whack of chilli, rhapsodises Tom Parker Bowles

Tom Parker Bowles

IT was one of the finest lunches I’ve ever eaten and not a white tablecloth in sight. In fact, there wasn’t even a chair, rather a rickety plastic stool in a makeshift rattan shack on the outskirts of Luang Prabang, Laos. I was here for a bowl of hangover noodle soup and it sure didn’t let me down. First, fresh noodles, briefly blanched in boiling water, then drained and dumped in a brittle melamine bowl, the alabaster tangle drenched in steaming buffalo broth. As ever with these soups, this was merely the start. There were herbs to pick and tear, familiar mint and coriander and jagged, acerbic leaves that I’d never seen, let alone tasted. Chillies came fresh, powdered and in a pungent paste alongside two pots containing sugar and…

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Country Life (Digital) - 1 Issue, March 19, 2025

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