Hmong Club held a free food event this past Saturday serving pho to Platteville students and community members in the basement of the First English Lutheran Church. The process included people picking up a bowl of rice noodles and passing it over the counter to a member of Hmong Club. The club member then supplied the bowl with either beef, chicken or vegetarian broth. After that, they handed back the bowl to the person asking if they wanted either beef, chicken or vegetables added to their pho. Once the person chose what they wanted, they moved along to a group of tables that housed extra add-ons.

The participant then picked out what add-ons they wanted in their pho, and if they couldn’t decide, they asked Hmong club members stationed at those tables for options for their pho. It was a way to customize the pho to their liking, and the add-ons ranged from fish sauce, oyster sauce, chili sauce, sweet soy sauce, peanut butter, thai basil, cilantro, lime and sugar. There was also water provided for the participants to grab on their way to a table.

“I really like that there were people who told us what ingredients we could put in the pho and being social with everyone. I met up with friends and the different options for pho was really nice, especially for people who are limited with what they can eat,” computer science and geography major Narisha Reddy said.

Sophomore industrial engineering major Carole Desportes talked about how the event provided students with information about pho that they otherwise would not know about. She had heard about the event through social media and decided to go because of free food and trying out something new.

Hmong Club had served a record amount of pho with 250 bowls during the event. Alumni Angela Yang was contracted for the event to make pho and had stated she made sure that there were a variety of options so that anyone and everyone could eat.

“Previously, I was Hmong Club president and I had been a part of Hmong Club since my freshman year [when I was a student]. After being in the organizations for so long [on campus], I’ve always wanted to help out. Just because someone is an alum, doesn’t mean that they no longer want to help out. I always want to help out, especially smaller communities like the Hmong students and Asian students on campus, to build a better awareness on different cultural foods and art. So, when they contracted me [to make the pho] I didn’t hesitate,” alumni Angela Yang said.