Pho - WikiHQ

Pho ( is a Vietnamese soup dish consisting of broth, rice noodles (), herbs, and meat – usually beef (), and sometimes chicken ().

thumb|Pho Ly Quoc Su in Co Dau Park

Pho is a relatively recent addition to the country's cuisine, first appearing in written records in the early 20th century in Northern Vietnam. After the Vietnam War, refugees popularized it throughout the world. Due to limited historical documentation, the origins of pho remain debated. Influences from both French and Chinese culinary traditions are believed to have contributed to its development in Vietnam, as well as to the etymology of its name.

In 2017, Vietnam made December 12 the "Day of Pho".

History

thumb|[[Nam Định City in 1900]]

Phở originated in Northern Vietnam in the early 20th century. It either evolved independently from, or shares a similar origin with, beef noodle soups found in neighboring countries, where dishes such as kuay teow reua of Thailand or ngau naam ho fun () and niu pahu () of Guangdong and Yunnan provinces of China, are common. While the rice noodles and the spices used in the broth of phở have a connection with Chinese culinary traditions, beef consumption was not widespread among the Vietnamese because they traditionally used water buffaloes for farming. The demand for beef only appeared under French colonial rule, leading some to attribute phở's origins to French, Chinese, or a combination of both influences. However dishes with a similar preparation to phở using water buffalo meat, such as xáo trâu have long been staples to the rural cuisine. Villagers in say they ate phở long before the French colonial period.

Cultural historian and researcher Trịnh Quang Dũng believes that the popularization and origins of modern pho stemmed from the intersection of several historical and cultural factors in the early 20th century. These include improved availability of beef due to French demand, which in turn produced beef bones that were purchased by Chinese workers to make into a beef noodle similar to phở called (牛肉粉 or 牛腩粉) or ngau juk fun. The Yunnan-style herbal beef soup is called niupahu (牛扒呼) or ngau paa fu in Cantonese. The demand for this dish was initially the greatest with workers from the provinces of Yunnan and Guangdong, who had an affinity for the dish due to its similarities to that of their homeland, which eventually popularized and familiarized this dish with the general population. They kept their heads warm with distinctive felt hats called . Around 1925, a Vân Cù villager named Vạn opened the first "Nam Định style" pho stand in Hanoi.

, served with cooked beef, had been introduced by 1930. Chicken pho appeared in 1939, possibly because beef was not sold at the markets on Mondays and Fridays at the time.

Meanwhile, in North Vietnam, private phở restaurants were nationalized ()

During the so-called subsidy period following the Vietnam War, state-owned pho eateries served a meatless variety of the dish known as pilotless pho (), in reference to the U.S. Air Force's unmanned reconnaissance drones. The broth consisted of boiled water with MSG added for taste, as there were often shortages of various foodstuffs like meat and rice during that period. Bread or cold rice was often served as a side dish, leading to the present-day practice of dipping (deep-fried wheat flour dough) in pho.

Pho eateries were privatized as part of Đổi Mới. Many street vendors must still maintain a light footprint to evade police enforcing the street tidiness rules that replaced the ban on private ownership. In 1980, the first of hundreds of phở restaurants opened in the Little Saigon in Orange County, California.

In the United States, phở began to enter the mainstream during the 1990s, as relations between the U.S. and Vietnam improved. Phở can now be found in cafeterias at many college and corporate campuses, especially on the West Coast. Phở has been adopted by other Southeast Asian cuisines, including Lao and Hmong cuisine.

Modern era

In recent decades, phở has evolved beyond its traditional form, with new variations emerging to cater to modern tastes and preferences. One notable innovation is , where the ingredients of phở are wrapped in fresh rice noodles, creating a new dish that has gained popularity in Hanoi.

Phở's influence has even extended into the cocktail scene, with bars like Nê offering phở-inspired cocktails that incorporate the soup's signature spices.

Additionally, chefs such as Peter Cung have brought phở into the realm of fine dining, as exemplified by his Michelin-starred restaurant Anan Saigon, where phở is deconstructed into a multi-course meal.

Official recognition has followed suit, with the Vietnamese government designating December 12 as the 'Day of Phở' in 2018, and in 2024, Hanoi and Nam Định-style phở were recognized as national intangible cultural heritage. These developments reflect the dish's enduring relevance and its continued reinvention in both local and international culinary landscapes.

Etymology and origins

Reviews of 19th and 20th-century Vietnamese literature have found that pho entered the mainstream sometime in the 1910s. Georges Dumoutier's extensive 1907 account of Vietnamese cuisine omits any mention of phở. The word appears in a short story published in 1907. Nguyễn Công Hoan recalls its sale by street vendors in 1913. A 1931 dictionary is the first to define as a soup: "from the word . A dish consisting of small slices of rice cake boiled with beef."

Possibly the earliest English-language reference to pho was in the book Recipes of All Nations, edited by Countess Morphy in 1935: In the book, pho is described as "an Annamese soup held in high esteem ... made with beef, a veal bone, onions, a bay leaf, salt, and pepper, and a small teaspoon of nuoc-mam (fish sauce)."'

There are two prevailing theories on the origin of the word and, by extension, the dish itself. As author Nguyễn Dư notes, both questions are significant to Vietnamese identity.

From French

Some historians suggest a connection to the French due to the introduction of beef as a staple ingredient during French colonial rule. Gustave Hue (1937) equates to the French beef stew (literally, "pot on the fire"). However, several scholars dispute this etymology, pointing to the significant differences between the two dishes. Another suggestion of a separate origin is that phở in French has long been pronounced rather than : in Jean Tardieu's (1928), a soup vendor cries "Pho-ô!" in the street. The connection between phở and the French culinary tradition remains widely debated but remains a prominent theory in discussions of its origins. Around 1908–1909, the shipping industry brought an influx of laborers. Vietnamese and Chinese cooks set up to serve them but later switched to inexpensive scraps of beef The French author Jean Marquet refers to the dish as "!" in his 1919 novel Du village-à-la cité. This is likely what the Vietnamese poet Tản Đà calls "" in "" ("Gambling"), written around 1915–1917. In North America, the semi-dried pho noodles are labeled on the packaging as (fresh pho noodles).

Pho noodles are usually medium-wide; however, people from different regions of Vietnam prefer different widths.

Broth

thumb|right|Phở served with beef [[brisket in Australia]]

The soup for beef phở is generally made by simmering beef bones, oxtails, flank steak, charred onion, charred ginger, and spices. For a more intense flavor, the bones may still have beef on them. Chicken bones also work and produce a similar broth. Seasonings can include Saigon cinnamon or other kinds of cinnamon as alternatives (may be used usually in stick form, sometimes in powder form in pho restaurant franchises overseas), star anise, roasted ginger, roasted onion, black cardamom, coriander seed, fennel seed, and clove. The broth takes several hours to make. The Central pho is more special. On the table, they prepare pickled papaya, and sate sauce.

Several ingredients not generally served with phở may be ordered by request. Extra-fatty broth (nước béo) can be ordered and comes with scallions to sweeten it. A popular side dish ordered upon request is hành dấm, or vinegared white onions.

Styles of pho

Regional variants

thumb|upright|Chicken phở at a typical street stall in Hanoi. The lack of side garnishes is typical of northern Vietnamese-style cooking.

There are several regional variants of pho in Vietnam, particularly divided between "Northern phở" () or "Hanoi phở" (phở Hà Nội), and "Southern phở" (phở Nam) or "Saigon pho" (). Northern Vietnamese phở uses a savoury, clear broth, blanched whole green onion, and garnishes offered generally include only diced green onion and cilantro, pickled garlic, chili sauce and quẩy. The Northern pho is often described as subtle and light on spices while having a deep savory taste from beef bones. Side dishes with the Northern pho are poached eggs (in the pho broth, served in a separate bowl) and fried dough, which can be either chewey of crunchy. On the other hand, southern Vietnamese phở broth is sweeter and cloudier, and is consumed with bean sprouts, fresh sliced chili, hoisin sauce, and a greater variety of fresh herbs. Phở may be served with either phở noodles or kuy teav noodles (). The variations in meat, broth, and additional garnishes such as lime, bean sprouts, ngò gai (culantro), húng quế (Thai basil), and tương đen (hoisin sauce), tương ớt (chili sauce) appear to be innovations made by or introduced to the South. Other provincial variations exist where pho is served with delicacy meats other than beef or chicken, such as duck, buffalo, goat, or veal.

Other phở dishes

Phở has many variants including many dishes bearing the name "phở", many are not soup-based:

thumb|Phở xào

Phở sốt vang: Wine-sauced pho, with beef stewed in red wine.
Phở tái lăn: pho with rare beef quickly stir-fried before serving.
Phở xào: sauteed pho noodles with beef and vegetables.
Phở áp chảo: similar to phở xào but stir-fried with more oil and gets more burned.
Phở cuốn: rolled pho, with ingredients rolled up and eaten as a gỏi cuốn.
Phở trộn: mixed pho, noodles and fresh herbs and dressings, served as a salad.
Phở chấm: dipping pho, with the noodles and broth served separately.
Phở chiên phồng: This variant is the same as the previous but without eggs and looks like pillows
Phở chiên trứng: This means a variant that pho is deep-fried with eggs.
Lẩu phở: Using deconstructed phở ingredients and eaten as a hotpot.

Other local variances or dishes called phở:

thumb|Phở khô Gia Lai

thumb|Phở vịt

Phở chua: meaning sour phở is a delicacy from Lạng Sơn city.
Phở khô Gia Lai: an unrelated noodle dish from Gia Lai, similar to hủ tiếu.
Phở sắn: a tapioca noodle dish from Quế Sơn District of Quảng Nam.
Phở sa tế: phở noodles with chili and peanut sauce and venison meat, came from Teochew immigrants in southern Vietnam.
Phở vịt: duck phở, a specialty of Cao Bằng and Lạng Sơn provinces.
Phở gan cháy: meaning grilled liver pho, a specialty found in Bắc Ninh city.
Phở trâu: Buffalo pho, a specialty of Nam Định and Hà Nam provinces.
Phở dê: Goat pho, a specialty of Ninh Bình province.
Phở đỏ: made from red rice, a specialty of Hà Giang highland.
Phở xíu chấm: a dish served with grilled pork, a specialty of Nam Định city.
Phở Lào or Laos phở is the Vietnamese name of Khao piak sen.

Vietnamese beef soup can also refer to , which is a spicy beef noodle soup associated with in central Vietnam.

Outside Vietnam

After the Fall of Saigon in 1975, the Philippines welcomed refugees into its territories, resulting in thousands of Vietnamese from southern Vietnam taking shelter on the Filipino island of Palawan. The Vietnamese immigrants brought with them part of their culture which influenced the Filipinos of the island, and vice versa. A notable culinary legacy is a pho-like Filipino dish popular in Palawan island that locals call chao long (not to be confused with the Vietnamese porridge called cháo lòng). The Filipino chao long is a noodle dish, which is a combination of broth, protein (beef, pork, and/or chicken), rice noodles, mung bean sprouts, and basil leaves. It is accompanied by a Filipino citrus called calamansi and served with a bread similar to Vietnamese bánh mì, which the locals refer to as "French bread".

Notable restaurants

thumb|right|Tables at phở restaurants abroad are set with a variety of condiments, including [[Sriracha sauce, and eating utensils.]]

Famous phở shops in Hanoi are Phở Bát Đàn, Phở Thìn Bờ Hồ, Phở Thìn Lò Đúc, Phở 10 Lý Quốc Sư. In 2016, BBC noted Pho 10 Ly Quoc Su to be among the best pho addresses in Vietnam.

Famous phở shops in Saigon included , , , , and . Pasteur Street () was a street famous for its beef phở, while Hien Vuong Street () was known for its chicken phở. At Phở Bình, American soldiers dined as National Liberation Front agents planned the Tết Offensive just upstairs. Nowadays in Ho Chi Minh City, well-known restaurants include: Phở Hùng, Phở Hòa Pasteur, and Phở 2000, which U.S. President Bill Clinton visited in 2000.

In the U.S.

thumb|upright|A homemade bowl of phở Sài Gòn made overseas in [[New York City]]

The largest phở chain in the United States is Phở Hòa, which operates over 70 locations in seven countries. A similar restaurant named Pho 75 serves in the Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, areas in the United States. Numbers in the restaurant name are "lucky" numbers for the owners: culturally lucky numbers or to mark a date in Vietnam or their personal history.

Many phở restaurants in the United States offer oversized helpings with names such as "train phở" (), "airplane phở" (), or "California phở" (). or have auctioned special versions costing $5,000.

Notes

References

External links

Pho with Hanoi wine sauce