Pho

Pho (phở) is a Vietnamese soup of flat rice noodles in a clear beef or chicken broth, with thin slices of meat, lime and fresh herbs. People in Vietnam eat it mostly for breakfast, and in 2024 the pho of Hanoi and Nam Dinh joined the country's national list of intangible cultural heritage. ¹²

The broth. It is the heart of the bowl. According to Vietnam's national tourism authority, beef or chicken simmers for many hours with dried spices: cinnamon, star anise, cloves, cardamom and coriander. Slices of beef or chicken go into the finished bowl, and lime wedges and herbs such as cilantro, basil and mint come on top. ²

The noodles. Pho noodles are made from rice, like most Vietnamese noodles, but they are steamed into flat, rectangular strips that give them more heft than round noodles. In Hanoi the same noodles also go into stir-fried dishes and fresh rolls, so ‘pho’ there names a noodle as well as a soup. ³

Pho bo and pho ga. The two best-known kinds are phở bò with beef and phở gà with chicken, a delicate soup from northern Vietnam that people across the country now eat for breakfast. As with other Vietnamese noodle soups, each diner seasons the bowl at the table with lime, chilli and aromatic herbs. ³

Where it comes from. The origin is disputed. Some trace pho to the French beef stew pot-au-feu, others to a Chinese beef noodle soup, others to a Vietnamese dish of noodles with buffalo meat. Historians agree that it became popular in Hanoi and Nam Dinh, two large northern cities, during the French colonial period. ¹

Street food first. Pho was not born in a restaurant. It began at the roadside, carried on the shoulders of vendors who walked the city with a big pot of broth kept hot on a mobile stove. Vendors and home cooks reinvented it many times with ingredients even the poorest could afford, and the country's turbulent history shaped it too. ¹

Hanoi and Nam Dinh. Hanoi has nearly 700 pho restaurants in 30 districts, most of them in Hoan Kiem, Ba Dinh, Cau Giay, Dong Da, Thanh Xuan, Hai Ba Trung and Long Bien. Nam Dinh has about 300, and the villages of Van Cu, Giao Cu and Tay Lac are seen as the homeland of its style. On 13 August 2024 the Ministry of Culture listed both styles as folk knowledge. ¹

Pho or bun bo Hue? Both are Vietnamese rice noodle soups, but they are built differently. Bun bo Hue comes from Hue, the old imperial capital: its broth is made from pork and beef bones with lemongrass and shrimp paste, it is served with round bún noodles and it is spicy. Pho has flat noodles and a clear, gently spiced broth, and the heat is added only at the table. ²³

Why it matters to you. In the USDA database, 100 g of pho with meat has 77 kcal, 5.8 g of protein, 3.3 g of fat and 365 mg of sodium. A 500 g bowl therefore brings about 385 kcal and 4.6 g of salt, almost the whole WHO limit of 5 g a day, so drinking all the broth adds up quickly. ⁴⁵