Where does Pho come from?

Although some researchers have explored the origins of this popular Vietnamese dish, their findings remain inconclusive.

One theory is that the name "pho" was borrowed from the French word "feu"(fire)as used in"pot-au-feu," a dish introduced during the French Occupation of Vietnam. However, if this is true, it is not clear how much the Vietnamese recipe borrowed from its French counterpart since the two dishes differ significantly. French pot-au-feu is a soup made from boiled meat and vegetables, but the meat is usually eaten separately from the vegetables and stock, whereas Vietnamese pho is a noodle soup with the ingredients eaten together. In addition, most ingredients in pho are different from those in pot-au-feu.

Another theory attributes the invention of pho to a talented cook in Nam Dinh City, Vietnam's largest colonial textile center, which had many French employers and many more Vietnamese laborers. The cook thought soup would please both groups. To ensure its appeal, he used rice noodles (Vietnamese) and slivers of beef (French) as his two main ingredients and then added some extras. If this story is true, then it's certainly also true that his recipe worked!

The third theory points to Van Cu Village in Nam Dinh Province as the birthplace of pho. According to this theory, impoverished villagers invented pho and peddled their dishes about a hundred kilometers away in Hanoi. They found immediate success among both rich and poor city dwellers. This may explain why several of the best pho chefs in Hanoi come from Van Cu Village.

What are the most popular kinds of Pho?

(Below is the personal experience of Mr.Hai, a pho chef, who started years ago as a pho peddler and whose name now appears at pho restaurants in Ho Chi Minh City, Paris, and California.)

Pho is the name given to any dish using pho noodles as the main ingredient. Here's how to make the noodles:

Place ordinary rice in water overnight to soften it. Grind the rice into a paste. Using a roller, flatten the paste into sheets that are from one to two millimeters thick. Steam the rice sheets and then cut them into bands that are from three to five millimeters wide and from twenty to thirty kilometers long. Pho noodles can be eaten fresh, or they can be dried for future use. Naturally, a bowl of fresh pho tastes much better than one made from dried noodles.

There are three main pho dishes:

1. Put pho noodles, meat, herbs, and spices in a big bowl and pour hot broth into it to submerge the contents, and you will have phở nước.

2. Stir-fry phở noodles with meat and herbs, and you have phở xào.

3. Fry pho noodles in hot fat until they become brown and crisp and then add spices, and you will have phở áp chảo.

Pho nước is the most popular dish of the three. There are different types of phở nước, which are named after the kinds of meat used: phở bò (beef), phở gà (chicken), phở tim gan (chicken hearts and livers). However, connoisseurs stick to beef Pho and are prepared to tolerate chicken Pho but nothing less.

What do foreigners have to say about phở?

According to chef Didier Corlour of Sofitel Metropole Hanoi, if you visit Vietnam and don't try pho, then you haven't experienced the country's cuisine.

"Pho is one of the reasons I've remained in Vietnam for fourteen years," says Corlou, referring to the popular soup found on almost every street. Corlou is so fond of pho and other French advocates persuaded Ambassador Frederic Baron of the European Union to organize a workshop on the popular dish. "Patrimoine du Vietnam: le pho"(Pho: Vietnamese Heritage) drew cultural researchers, poets, and Vietnamese culinary experts. The workshop provided educational information and the chance for participants to observe pho being prepared in the style of the early twentieth century. To promote the tradition of pho, the European Union also published a bi-lingual French-Vietnamese book about the dish.

"We spent more than a year preparing for that occasion," Ambassador Baron said.

Pho has also aroused the curiosity of journalists and writers. For example, journalist Frank Renaud researched documents at the French Far Eastern Institute but failed to find definitive information about the origin of pho. Author Alain Guillemin wrote a short paper, "The History of Vietnamese Pho", which has been translated into Vietnamese.

"Some Vietnamese authors," Guillemin said, "write about pho as enthusiastically as if they were crafting poetry!"

Nguyen Dinh Rao, chair of the Vietnam UNESCO Gastronomy Club, searched for the origin of old-styled Pho stalls. He learned that the food may have originated in the early twentieth century during the establishment of the Nam Dinh Textile Factory. At that time, the factory was Indochina's biggest employer. To suit the French palate, young Nam Dinh residents used beef to enhance their traditional rice soup and noodles.

Some believe pho is irresistible on many levels. "I still eat pho at a restaurant near Cua Bac Street," Corlou says. "That's where I met my wife!"