Pho

Vietnamese phở noodle soup with sliced rare beef and well done beef brisket.

Phở (IPA: [fɤ̂] in Vietnamese; in English, written pho and typically Template:Pron-en) is a traditional Vietnamese thinly sliced meat and rice-noodle soup dish.

Ingredients and preparation

Phở is served as a bowl of white rice noodles in clear beef broth, with thin cuts of beef (steak, fatty flank, lean flank, brisket). Variations featuring tendon, tripe, meatballs, chicken leg, chicken breast, or other chicken organs (heart, liver, tongue, etc.) are also available. 'With the lot' (made with chicken broth and all or most of the shop's chicken and cattle offering, including chicken hearts and livers and beef tripe and tendons) is known as 'Phở đặc biệt' (unique phở). There are also various vegetarian varieties of phở.

Broth

The broth is generally made by simmering beef (and sometimes chicken) bones, oxtails, flank steak, charred onion, and spices, taking several hours to prepare. Seasonings include Saigon cinnamon, star anise, charred ginger, cloves, and sometimes black cardamom pods.

Noodles

The noodles, called bánh phở in Vietnamese, are traditionally cut from wide sheets of fresh rice noodles similar to Chinese Shahe fen, although dried noodles (also called "rice sticks") may also be used. Fresh noodles have a chewy, al dente texture, though they are more expensive and highly perishable. Dried pho is much softer and more affordable.

Garnishes

The dish is garnished with ingredients such as green onions, white onions, coriander leaves (cilantro), ngò gai (culantro, or long coriander), Thai basil, fresh Thai chili peppers, lemon or lime wedges, and bean sprouts. These items are usually provided on a separate plate, which allows customers to add to their soup to taste. Some sauces such as hoisin sauce, Chinese black vinegar, fish sauce, and the Thai hot sauce Sriracha, are popular additions as well, along with sugar. The herb ngò ôm (Limnophila aromatica) is sometimes added as well.

For the phở connoisseur, other garnishes which may be ordered on the side include hành trần (the white "bulb" portion of scallions, blanched in boiling broth) and hành giấm (sliced white onions with a dash of vinegar). These are only brought to the table when specifically requested, as opposed to the general platter of greens and lime wedges. The diner typically squeezes a few drops of lime juice onto the vinegared onion slices before eating them. The hành trần and hành giấm, when eaten with the beef slices, are believed to cut the fattiness and balance the strong beef aroma that some find overpowering.

Origins and regional differences

There are several regional variants of phở in Vietnam, particularly divided between northern (Hanoi, called phở bắc or "northern phở"; or phở Hà Nội), central (Huế), and southern (Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon). One regional phở may be sweeter, and another variation may emphasize a bolder and spicier flavor. "Northern phở" tends to use somewhat wider noodles and green onions.^{photo 1photo 2} On the other hand, southern Vietnamese generally use thinner noodles[1] (approximately the width of pad Thai or linguine noodles), and add bean sprouts and a greater variety of fresh herbs to their phở instead.

Cultural practices

Phở can be eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner. The noodles are usually picked up with chopsticks and placed onto a soup spoon. The spoon is then dunked into the broth and topped with meat/condiments and eaten. Vietnamese phở restaurants usually retain the cultural practice of not delivering the bill to a customer's table, since it is considered rude—in the Vietnamese culture, it is seen as a way of trying to rush the customer out the door.

Most tables usually have a numbering system and have chopsticks, spoons, serviettes and condiment dispensers. Hot sauce, usually either an XO sauce or satay chili sauce, and hoisin sauce are also available for those that like to dip their meat in them or add them to the soup.

Styles of phở

A chicken-based phở (phở gà) with basil leaves, hoisin sauce, and Sriracha hot sauce, before mixing.

The most common variety of phở is a beef phở, called phở bò. Some Vietnamese restaurants have begun catering to non-Vietnamese customers by opening in other areas. Other cultures, such as the Korean culture, have also adapted phở and provide a larger amount of onions as a side that is usually mixed with Sriracha sauce and Hoisin Sauce. Adapting to local tastes and diets, some Vietnamese restaurants in the United States have also started making chicken-based phở, called phở gà, or phở without visible pieces of meat (called phở rau), or even vegetarian phở (called phở chay) Phở rau (rau literally meaning "leafy greens," but implying vegetables) may use a meat-based broth, while phở chay (literally "Buddhist vegetarian phở") features a broth that is not made from meat. The time it takes to make the non meat-based broth is much shorter and less tedious however has a different and lighter broth taste. ^recipe, in addition to the traditional beef noodle soup. Seafood-based phở is also commonly available. Another variation of phở involves using egg noodles instead of rice noodles, which was based in Northern Vietnam. There are also Korean, Thai, and Lao variants of phở available. Lao phở (feu) is usually topped with fried garlic. Another style of phở which is rare even among Vietnamese is phở tái lăn (phở with medium-cooked beef).

See also

• Tom yum
• bo kho
• Ka tieu
• ramen

External links

• Lam, Andrew. "Pho", All Things Considered, National Public Radio, September 2, 1999 Surprising locations to find pho
• Norris, Michele. "From Pho to Fast Food, an Immigrant's Tale", All Things Considered, National Public Radio, February 6, 2007 Biography of Bich Minh Nguyen
• Prakash, Snigdha. "Pho Sells", Morning Edition, National Public Radio, June 3, 2002. Campbell soup markets pho
• Sullivan, Michael. "Vietnamese Pho Chain Takes on U.S. Competition", Morning Edition, National Public Radio, March 20, 2007. Introduction of chain restaurant in the USA
• Pho Recipe