I always get odd looks sent my way whenever I choose to pass on the bean sprouts at any pho restaurant. The people I go most often with already know the story, but to newcomers, the question is always the same.
“Why don’t you eat bean sprouts with your pho?”
It’s a complicated answer. One time when I was a kid, I went out for pho with my family. Everything seemed normal — I got my usual kids meal, my parents asked the staff if they could cook our platter of bean sprouts, and we drank our waters while indulging in our meals. I was young, clueless, and unaware that a single bean sprout had wormed its way into my spoon. As I scooped the noodles into my mouth, something slashed at the back of my throat.
That dastardly bean sprout!
I coughed wildly, dropping my spoon in shock as tears sprang to my eyes. How could this bean sprout do such a thing? How could I have been so naïve as to trust this plant?
My anger towards bean sprouts has remained fiery ever since that night. Whenever I go for ramen, I ask for no bean sprouts out of fear that they’ll come to hurt me again. If they come with my stir fry, I’ll pick them out with a simmering sneer. Never again will I allow these creatures to hurt me like how they once did. Besides, they don’t even taste that great. Why take the risk?
