The second component of the broth is spice and aromatics. In pho, cinnamon and star anise lead the charge, with assists from cloves and cardamom.
One of the chefs I was traveling with pointed out fennel, but that was more subtle. In the broth typically rests a minimal amount of meat and sometimes tendon and meat or fish balls.
Those are cooked individually, placed in a basket and thrust into a pot of boiling water for a couple seconds before finding their way into the soup. The garnishes are what many people associate with pho. Understanding how these garnishes work is key to understanding pho. But, first, take a sip of the broth before messing with the mountain of greenery. Sip the broth and savor the complexity.
Appreciate the time that has gone into this pristine liquid. Ok, back to the herbs and vegetables. Vietnam has a tropical climate, so all sorts of produce grows basically year-round. At the pho stall you will likely find baskets of Thai basil sharp and biting and bean sprouts fresh and crunchy.
Those two are a given. You may also find Thai chili peppers crimson red with the heat to match , green onions onion-y , coriander also called cilantro, which you last found in that bowl of salsa and culantro not cilantro but a flat herb that is best described as having more bite and pepper than the often mistaken cilantro. For pho, herbs are best ripped up and sprinkled into the broth, as opposed to the entire leaf being submerged.
The play between the bitter greens and the sweet-and-sour broth, with noodles playing their key role, is magic. Lastly, the condiments. The broth is accompanied only by rice noodles and and thinly sliced beef.
After the second world war, many people from North Vietnam moved to South Vietnam to escape the communist rule of the North. This led to the creation of pho nam. Pho nam is usually made with a broth that is seasoned with many spices and heavily garnished with fresh herbs such as bean sprouts, basil, and cilantro.
Pho nam became popular in southern Vietnam and is still commonly sold by street vendors due to its convenience. After the fall of Saigon at the end of the Vietnamese conflict, many people of the South fled to various parts of the world, allowing the spread pho along with other Vietnamese dishes. Pho is now easily found in many places of the world and is very popular on social media. Pho bo beef pho is usually served with a large bowl of broth and rice noodles and is accompanied by a plate of thinly sliced raw beef and a plate of fresh garnishes like basil, cilantro, radishes, chilies, and lime.
At most pho restaurants, there are also several condiments on the table, such as hoisin sauce, soy sauce, fish sauce, Sriracha, and chili paste, to flavor the broth.
Essentially, each bowl of pho is unique to you. My pho forays were often homemade, for Sunday brunch. Like many Vietnamese expatriates, we began savoring pho as a very special food, a gateway to our cultural roots. At the table, our bowls of homemade pho were accompanied by fresh chile slices and a few mint sprigs.
And definitely no sriracha, which Mom deemed un-Vietnamese. A typical pho and rice shop sign. As a college student in Los Angeles, I went to pho restaurants that served up giant bowls with plates piled high with produce for personalizing flavors. Flummoxed at first, I learned to loosen up, even at the sight of someone squirting hoisin and sriracha into a bowl. Over the years, I practiced making my own pho, developed recipes for my first cookbook, Into the Vietnamese Kitchen , researched pho in Vietnam and wrote articles on it, answered reporter and blogger queries, and taught pho classes to countless cooks.
Interest in pho has risen exponentially as it has moved from the margins to the mainstream. I figured that I knew what pho was all about until friends, Facebook fans, and then my publisher suggested that I write a pho cookbook. What was there to present beyond the familiar brothy bowl? As it turned out, a lot. Vietnam is a country with a history spanning over thirty-five hundred years, but pho is a relatively new food. Prior to , images of pho street food vendors appeared in Technique du Peuple Annamite Mechanics and Crafts of the People of Annam , — , a multivolume effort by Henri J.
He was a colonial administrator who commissioned artisans and wood carvers to document life in Hanoi and the surrounding countryside. One of the pho vendor wood carvings from Oger's historic "Technique du Peuple Annamite".
But what was the source of the original pho? Some say that long before pho got popularized, it was being prepared in Van Cu, an impoverished village in Nam Dinh Province located about sixty miles one hundred kilometers southeast of Hanoi. The village and province produced generations of pho masters, many of whom relocated to the capital to open well-regarded pho shops. In the Hanoi area during the early s, there was a lot of interaction between the Vietnamese, French, and Chinese China and Vietnam are next-door neighbors.
The French, who officially occupied Vietnam from the s to , satiated their desires for tender steaks by slaughtering cows, which the Vietnamese traditionally used as draft animals. The leftover bones and scraps were salvaged and sold by a handful of Hanoi butchers.
Street vendors who were already selling noodle soup recognized an opportunity to offer something new. It was just a matter of switching the menu of their portable kitchens. It was simply made, with slices of water buffalo meat cooked in broth with rice vermicelli. The vendors swapped beef for water buffalo. Somewhere in the process, they also traded flat rice noodles for the round rice vermicelli. Viet culture and language were in flux when pho emerged on the scene.
A typical pho vendor in Hanoi long ago. They were often men. Source: Depplus. The new noodle soup was often prepared and sold by food hawkers who roamed the streets looking for customers. Many of the initial pho customers were Chinese coolies and other workers whose livelihoods were tied to the French and Chinese merchant ships that sailed up and down the Red River; the river flowed from Yunnan Province, past the edge of Hanoi, then into the Gulf of Tonkin, connecting a diverse group of people.
The beef noodle soup caught on with the Chinese workers and, soon thereafter, with the many ethnic Vietnamese who began working on the river, too. The initial pho shops opened in the bustling Old Quarter the main commercial hub and more followed. Nam Dinh—style pho shops seeded their reputation around , when a skilled cook from Van Cu opened a storefront in Hanoi. Daniel British. Libby British.
Mia British. Karen Australian. Hayley Australian. Natasha Australian. Veena Indian. Priya Indian. Neerja Indian. Zira US English. Oliver British. Wendy British. Fred US English.
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