Ask a random Vietnamese on the streets of what they have for breakfast and the most common answer is pho. It is not simply a dish which could satisfy an empty stomach every morning but pho is also considered the essence of Vietnamese cuisine.
Phở noodle soup first appeared in the 1920s, ie it’s less than 100 years old. However, it developed incredibly fast. First, there was only beef noodle soup and it was hawked around the streets. During the 1940s, when there was a shortage of beef, people started making Phở with chicken as they had become addicted to it. And now Phở is so popular that almost no street in Hanoi is without a Phở restaurant. In some areas, there are even 3-4 restaurants, from luxurious to simple ones inside alleys, but not every restaurant can satisfy the strict requirements of Hanoian gourmets, who eat Phở every morning or late at night during the four seasons.
A good bowl of Phở first requires the flavor of soup, which comes from cooking the ox bones, not from seasoning, along with taste of cardamon, grilled ginger and onion, all mixed together. Noodles must be soft and plastic. Next, brown beef is dipped into the hot soup, and finally spices, including onion and “thơm” vegetable. The southerners love to eat Phở with various types of vegetables, but Hanoians do not eat it that way.
Exceptional cases are Phở bought specially for sick people without meat or for children without onion, but these are not really Phở. To appreciate Phở properly, it should be eaten in restaurants with the atmosphere of people going in and out, the sound of bowls, chop sticks and knives, and the passionate faces.
Phở is the delicious speciality food of Hanoi. In Vietnam you can find Phở everywhere, but even some tens of km away from Hanoi, Phở is no longer so delicious.
In addition to Phở made from beef and from chicken, there are other types of local Phở like Phở thịt vịt (duck meat), Phở thịt lợn (pork), Phở chua, Phở cuốn etc., but only Phở noodle soup made in Hanoi has the special attraction that is found no where else in Vietnam. It is, indeed, “a feature of Hanoi”.
Some types of Phở noodle soups in Hanoi: Phở bò tái (rare beef), Phở bò chín (well done beef), Phở bò nạm gầu (beef), Phở bò sốt vang (beef and tomato), Phở gà (chicken).
When serving, it is advisable that you add some chilli pepper, squeeze 1 to 2 lime wedges and have a sip of this delicious stock before enjoying the combination of rice noodle and beef.
If this is the first time you have tried this dish, you would be impressed with the texture of every ingredient which makes up a perfect bowl of pho. Have a sip of broth and you can feel a harmony of different flavors as cinnamon stick, black cardamom and star anise. These are unskippable spices to make the broth more . Rice noodle is soft, chewy and goes perfectly with thinly sliced half-done or well-done beef. Half-done beef is chewier, sweeter because it has just cooked by dipping in hot broth for few seconds or by pouring broth on. That’s why beef seemingly keeps up all of its flavors and gives you a feeling of freshness. However, if you are afraid of uncooked meat or having any problems with your stomach, well-done beef would be a perfect alternative. Beef has been cooked thoroughly until it’s no longer chewy. When serving with rice noodle, it feels like they are both melting in your mouth because well-done beef is much more tender.
Besides beef noodle, chicken noodle is also the top favourite dish for a breakfast or a light meal anytime of the day. The difference of the two can be recognized by their names, which means beef would be replaced by shredded steamed chicken. The stock, as a result, is made of chicken bones instead. Each type has different tastes but in general they are both considered the essence of Vietnamese cuisine. Pho is more suitable for a winter day, especially when you are trying to stop shivering with cold. The sizzling soup makes your body temperature immediately go up and you can feel the hot broth slowly warms you up inside out. However, a lot of people prefer a bowl of pho on those hottest days of summer, when the temperature can reach 40 o C. It’s when you use the heat to fight the heat. A trip to Vietnam, especially to Hanoi, would be incomplete without trying our national dish, pho. We highly recommend these shops, which can give you different insights into just an extremely popular dish.
Address:
- Pho Thin – 13 Lo Duc Street
- Pho Bat Dan – 49 Bat Dan Street
- Pho 10 – 10 Ly Quoc Su Street
- Pho Oanh, 113 Nguyen Truong To street
- Pho Vui, 13 Hang Giay street
- Pho Tu Lun, 23C Hai Ba Trung street
- Pho Nam Ngu, 12 Nam Ngu street
Let explore Hanoi food with Hanoi Street Food Tour
In addition, To enjoy the most beautiful sightseeings in Vietnam by your eyes, you can see some itineraries below Halong Bay Cruises – Hanoi Tour – Vietnam Tours – Sapa Tours – Package Tours or book a private car to discover where ever you want to enjoy the Vietnamese taste.