Not scared of beef guts

Ok, maybe I am still a little bit scared of cow guts but I am certainly less scared than before. A long time ago when I learned what menudo was (tripe soup, not a Latino boy band), my dad took me to try it in Bullhead City. Short version- I was not a fan. Too tough. Ever since, I have been scared of dishes with tripe. A month ago, I was back in Los Altos, CA, for a deposition. Instead of Japanese food, this time I decided to go for Vietnamese food. Just a short walk from my hotel was a pho house. I ambled over there planning to eat something wimpy.




However, upon readng the menu, Isuddenly felt weak and ashamed. Dead cows were besting my by simply being dead and chewy. I could not let this stand. I ordered a bowl of pho with beef and beef tripe, steeled myself and prepared for the worst. As you can see from above, my first tripe experience wasn't good. The tripe seemed to, as my father in law would say, "get bigger as I chewed it" which isnthe reason I don't currently eat raw octopus.



It turns out, however, that well prepared tripe isn't bad at all. The tripe in this soup was very tender, required almost no chewing and was not bad tasting at all. InstRted out chewing each bit of tripe with a chunk of beef to trick my scaredy cat stomach into allowing the tripe into stay. By the last third of the bowl, I was eating the tripe without any beef. I am proud to say, I ate the whole bowl and all the tripe. In fact, the raw jalepeño included as a garnish was harder to eat than the tripe. I guess I next need to take on octopus.




-- Post From My iPhone