If you live in Seattle, you no doubt recognize the picture: a dish of pho, rice noodles in a clear stock with (in this case) thinly sliced beef brisket. Sauces (sriracha, nam pla) on the left, basil and bean sprouts tucked under the bowl to the right. Elsewhere in the country, this would be considered exotic; here, it's as local as hot dogs and apple pie. Elsewhere, they call it "foe;" Seattle knows it's "fuh;"
And here, specifically at Ba Bar, Eric Banh isn't satisfied. He wants to push the envelope a bit further, with another noodle dish called mi quang. Mi, pronounced "may," are noodles from the Danang region of central Vietman. The noodles are broader, colored with turmeric; the stock is richer, deeper, thicker, and typically made with chicken and pork bones that have been picked clean before simmering.
As it happens, Ba Bar roasts a lot of chickens and pork bellies, so the kitchen has a lot of perfectly good bones. And with a relatively new kitchen tool, a combi-oven (a pricey, professional grade appliance popularized by Nathan Myhrvold's Modernist Cuisine), there's now a good use for them: making that chicken and pork stock.
Banh says expects his mi quang to hit the menu within a couple of weeks.
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