Pho...WHY???

MSeel1984

I love Pho. So much.
I'm craving a giant bowl of it tonight...
But oh my gosh WHY is it so high in calories?!
I get the healthier version of it...white meat chicken only, lower fat broth...

I also cut back on the noodles when I make mine-end up throwing part of them away...

*sigh* it sounds amazing right now...

Pearsquared

I loooove pho. The only thing holding me back is that there's no good pho in the town I'm living in now.

Roxiegirl2008

I think that all of the time! I plan for those days.

missiontofitness

I make room for it. You either have it in its original form, or you don't.
All the sodium, calories, and broth is worth it.

Lofteren

I didn't think it was that high in calories at all. When I go to eat Vietnamese I eat until I'm hobbling out of there in pain and it was still less than 1,000 calories.

bebeisfit

How many calories? The broth can't have much. It seems like the majority of calories come from the noodles. I just read an article that a medium bowl has up to 6 oz of noodles. My go-to place only has a few ounces of meat and the steak may be lower in calories than the chicken. But they also serve it in a bowl as big as my head! We share it.

lilRicki

mmmm...I love pho. I plan for it though, if I'm going to stuff my face with that awesomness, I pre log it so I know what the rest of my day should look like. You throw out the noodles??? That's blasphemy!! lol

dbmata

it's high in calories?

missiontofitness

dbmata wrote: »

it's high in calories?

It can be a bit higher with the noodles, and if you opt for meatballs or slices of beef.

Lasmartchika

missiontofitness wrote: »

I make room for it. You either have it in its original form, or you don't.
All the sodium, calories, and broth is worth it.

I've never had any... how am I supposed to know it's good pho?

HeySwoleSister

Eh, if you have a head cold or sinus infection (it's winter, of course I have both!) Pho will clear out a good few pounds of grossness, the caloric binge is worth it.

Biggest complaint? I don't have any good spots near me.

Alluminati

I love Pho.

lngbrd

Recently discovered it, love it.

cwolfman13

I don't find it to be that high in calories. On average a 2 1/2 cup bowl comes in around 350 calories or so. I figure the bowl at my favorite place is about double that...so 700 calories...maybe a little higher than one of my average meals, but not by much.

kozinskey

dbmata wrote: »

it's high in calories?

I'm still having trouble believing it's all that caloric. The pho I've gotten is mostly veggies with some token noodles and a few slices of meat. Does that mean it's bad pho?

dbmata

cwolfman13 wrote: »

I don't find it to be that high in calories. On average a 2 1/2 cup bowl comes in around 350 calories or so. I figure the bowl at my favorite place is about double that...so 700 calories...maybe a little higher than one of my average meals, but not by much.

Right, same around these parts two.

We now have two good places for Pho. My little town is start to try to get all cosmo on me.

congruns

Probably before the hosin and sriracha sauce:

http://www.nola.com/dining/index.ssf/2013/06/how_does_pho_measure_up_when_i.html

Pho is one of the most popular Vietnamese menu items, often ordered as a light lunch or dinner, but is that steaming bowl of noodles really as nutritious as we think it is? Here’s an up-close look at how pho measures up, and how to tweak it to make it even better (nutritionally speaking, of course).

The nutritional stats vary widely depending on serving size, type of meat, and amount of noodles added, but to get a ballpark idea of protein, carbs, and calories, we ordered beef pho (medium or ‘regular’ size, with flank steak or eye of round) from several restaurants throughout the city and deconstructed them to see just how much meat, noodles, veggies and broth were in each.

On average, a medium bowl of pho contained three to four ounces of meat, six ounces of noodles, and 20 ounces of broth, along with an assortment of fresh herbs, onions, peppers, and bean sprouts. The calculated nutritional stats were 350 to 450 calories per bowl, with 35 to 50 grams of carbs, 30 grams of protein, and a whopping 1500 mg of sodium.

The broth itself contains little or no oil, and is very low in calories, carbs, and fat – the main drawback is the high sodium content.

Keep pho lean with protein choices like flank steak, eye of round, seafood, or chicken, rather than higher fat options like meatballs or brisket. And while tripe and beef tendon may not sound like healthful additions, a four-ounce serving of tripe (from the stomach of a cow) has just 100 calories and one gram of saturated fat, and beef tendon is very lean, with a couple of ounces packing in 20 grams of protein with very little fat.

If an average of three to four ounces of meat per medium bowl of pho isn’t enough protein, you can always request double meat (or seafood or chicken).

And requesting vegetables in place of noodles can save as much as 200 calories and 50 grams of carbs per medium bowl of pho, plus you’ll be getting the added nutritional benefit of veggies like bok choy, cabbage, carrots, and bean sprouts.

Sydking

I get no noodles. Extra meat and Heaps of extra bean sprouts

Tastes better then with the noodle and much lower cal

azulvioleta6

It tends to come in a huge serving size, which is a big part of the issue. Plus the noodles are high in carbs.

I get veggie pho and eat half of the serving.

dcrain02

We make our own - its really not that hard. My bowl is mostly the veggies and meat. I skimp on the rice noodles.

Sabine_Stroehm

cwolfman13 wrote: »

I don't find it to be that high in calories. On average a 2 1/2 cup bowl comes in around 350 calories or so. I figure the bowl at my favorite place is about double that...so 700 calories...maybe a little higher than one of my average meals, but not by much.

I don't find it all that high either. And I ask for it light on the noodles (I prefer the meat and bean sprouts). If we go to a restaurant a pho dish gives me 2 or maybe 3 meals.