Today is the first day of new year. It was started with an incredibly amazing novel called ‘Love in the time of cholera’. The book features the unmoved and unchanging love between two people, the love that was persisted for over several decades.
And then the day goes on with my attempt to cook Pho — a traditional Vietnamese dish. It was the first time ever so I was both nervous and excited. Partly enjoying good foods has been family tradition, partly the process of making Pho seems to be intriguing, it would be worth a try. 8 hours and the Pho came out from an amateur, my strategy was to learn on the go.
Although it was just a small experience, it was a replicate of entrepreneurship journey to me. Many times we try starting up something, we almost do not know where to start, we stumble, until we learn what might be a better way of doing something. First thing first, the tail bones got clean with boiled water and they were put into a stove for slow cook. Next, grilled onions and gingers were needed for flavor of the soup.
This idea of Pho was initiated from my encounter with some people grabbing tail bones. “Which dish comes from this ingredients?”, I thought. Immediately, that question was brought to a shopper and she told me of how she planned to make soup. From that point on, one fourth of my purchases were inspired by her purchases. I set my mind on making Pho.
Interestingly, she shared with me that it would take 3 hours for the bones to generate all the best stuff into water, some other resources suggested 5 hours. I thought, the longer they are cooked, the more nutrition is extracted. In the end, my family finished their bowls of Pho in 20 minutes. At least, some appreciation needed to be on the table, yet, the expression was not clear.
Figuring out every step on my own was exhausting. Setting priorities of which step to do first and making decision were very challenging under time constraints and unknowns. Nevertheless, there was absent of the thought of giving up. It was an intimate space between me and my soup, or you can say it was a meditation.
Slow cook taught me that good things take time, rushing the process is unnecessary. That is not to recommend that you should be standing on a wrong station to wait for the right train to come. Be patient and be adaptable. Look for signs that align with your heart. Life constantly demands us to reorganize, and the best eyes can see both clusters and empty spaces, given a messy condition.
Happy new year!
