Vietnam - Cháo Bò

Background
The two options for Vietnamese breakfast are pho and chao. Pho is a noodle soup that is served in Vietnamese restaurants. Chao is a simple rice soup. As I had never had chao I decided to make that for breakfast. Chao and pho have many variations and names depending on the meat. We made chao bo with is chao with thinly cut beef. The recipe for the chao bo was a chimera from two books: Into the Vietnamese Kitchen by Andrea Nguyen and Authentic Vietnamese Cooking by Corinne Trang. The major differences between the two dishes was there approach to the broth for the chao. Nguyen's approach required about 3 hours while Trang's recipe simply starts with water. I find it odd that Trang started with water given she writes wonderfully about the importance of broth in her introduction. We split the difference by using our own homemade broth.
We also made Ca Phe which is Vietnamese coffee for after the breakfast. Both books mention side dishes but neither list them so we had no side dishes.

Chao Bo

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 minced shallot
• ¾ cup of jasmine rice
• 8 cups of vegetable broth
• 8 oz ground beef (80/20)
• 2 scallions
• 1 cup cilantro
• ½ cup chopped peanuts
• 1½ tbsp grated ginger
• Fish sauce (nuoc mam)
• Fresh ground pepper

1. Cook shallots and rice in oil over medium heat for five minutes until the shallots become translucent.
2. Add vegetable broth and bring to a boil.
3. Simmer uncovered for 1½ hours.
4. Add in ground beef making sure to break it into small bits so it cooks properly.
5. Cook for 5 minutes.
6. Ladle into bowls and garnish with peanuts, cilantro, ginger, fish sauce, and scallions.

Ca Phe

• 1 heaping tbsp French roast coffee
• 1 tbsp sweetened condensed milk

1. Spoon the condensed milk into the bottom of a cup.
2. Place coffee in brewer and set over cup.
3. Pour 6 oz boiling water into the brewer, wait for it to filter through, and serve.

Results and Discussion
This breakfast was not one of our favorites to make. Most of the time is spent waiting for the rice porridge to thicken, getting hungry, and making some toast. The end product is not visually appealing without garnish. The garnish also gives the dish most of its flavor with the beef and rice giving it most of its substance. I would not make this meal again for breakfast given the long preparation time. It would make a nice part of dinner and then reheat well for breakfast.
We did not have the right equipment to make the ca phe. To do it properly it requires a specialized device that is a hybrid of a French press and a drip. I did not think the coffee using our method was bad but it was weaker than it was supposed to be.