DALLAS — Michelle Le and her family have been serving fairgoers since 2011. But new to their booth this season is an old family recipe.
Deep fried pho.
Sounds fitting for the State Fair of Texas, right?
"Basically, it's like what you would get in a bowl of pho noodle soup," Le said. "We put the rice noodles, the bean sprouts, the herbs, the beef. We roll it up and deep fry it."
Le's booth, Eat Crispies, sits in a busy midway intersection at the fair. People patiently wait in long lines to try the dish that won the 2023 Big Tex Choice Winner for Best Taste Savory.
"It's [got] a real bone broth that my father-in-law makes," Le said. "He actually is making it during the fair. It takes eight to ten hours."
Corey Durham, an annual fairgoer, is from Dallas and now living out-of-state. He comes back every year to try to state fair food winners.
"That's amazing," he said, as he took a bite into the deep fried pho. "That's everything I hoped it would be. I'm super excited about that."
The entree costs 24 coupons, which is equivalent to 24 dollars. To Durham, it was worth it.
"It definitely was," he said. "It absolutely was everything I hoped it would be."
Le said their booth has been extra busy this year because of the award. They also introduced a new deep fried Vietnamese coffee item that was a finalist in the competition. To meet demand, they have three times the employees this year than previous years.
Still, she is eager to share her culture through food. While deep fried pho is not a traditional dish, the broth and ingredients that go inside the tortilla are ingredients that have been in her family for generations.
"It's exciting," Le said. "It's overwhelming."