Have you ever tried a recipe that turned out to go horribly wrong, or maybe the end product, despite being good, just wasn't worth the effort? What was that recipe, and what about it made you say "NEVER AGAIN"?
I ask this as I am actively trying to remove the stench of onions from my Instapot lid's silicone ring after making French Onion Soup in it (so far steaming it with white vinegar on the steam setting, soaking the ring in a water/baking soda bath overnight, and baking it at 250 degrees F for 20 minutes have all done nothing, so I ordered a new one, I give up). And I realized that cutting all the onions and waiting hours for them to caramelize and now this damn smell issue just isn't worth it. Plus I still have frozen soup in the freezer because I can only eat French Onion soup so many days in a row.
My wife and I tried to make Pho one year for our anniversary. Went all out and got stuff from the Asian market to make it authentic and to the recipe I was recommended.
It was so bad, we just had to throw it out and order pizza. It sucks cuz I really like Pho, but it's just not worth trying to do myself.
The good thing is the majority of Vietnamese restaurants are small family businesses that don't charge a lot. So for me pho is an exclusively eat out option. I know any attempt I'd make would be shit and expensive.
I've got pretty close with my instant pot recipe, but its hours of work and I end up throwing away so much rotted veg because I don't use it all. So yeah, way better to buy in from a local place.