Pho is perhaps Vietnam's most widely-known dish outside of its borders. The fragrant noodle soup topped with rare or well-cooked beef and/or brisket, or chicken partnered with a side of fresh veggies and herbs is unbeatable as a breakfast, lunch or dinner meal.
Some of you may recall that last week, I recommended Anthony Bourdain's "A Cook's Tour" book from 2001 as an introduction to Vietnamese food and I promised to wade into the issue of pho's origins.
Here is Bourdain's description of the first pho he encounters at the Ben Thanh market in Ho Chi Minh (a.k.a. Saigon)l: "A bowl of clear hot liquid, loaded with shreds of fresh, white and pink crabmeat, and noodles is handed to me, garnished with bean sprouts and chopped fresh cilantro" accompanied by lime wedges, chili fish oil and chopped red chilis. Bourdain describes it as "spicy, hot, complex, refined" and "overwhelmingly perfect."
WHERE PHO ART THOU?
Pho bo or pho bac is an Hanoi (Northern Vietnamese) invention but its roots are in dispute. Here are three possible historical explanations:
- It evolved from the Mongolian Hot Pot, a strong beef soup served communally.
- It was created in the early 1900s as a way to finish off beef leftovers in the wake of Vietnamese Tet (new year) celebrations.
- It originated in Yunnan province, China and was brought back to Vietnam by Vietnamese nationalists who had fled the French occupation at the end of the 19th century.
What is not in dispute is that it's a mainly northern Vietnamese dish that migrated south after 1954 when a million people from the region left after the establishment of a Communist regime. Since then, it's become a national dish with a variety of regional adaptations. In the south, the noodles are generally thinner and cooks have added a side of mung bean sprouts.
By the way, if you're into noodle-soups and one-pot meals, Jacqueline Church has a wonderful description of Shabu-Shabu.
Pho Purity
Because pho has become so widely dispersed, there are debates as to what constitutes real pho. The Hanoi version, for purists, includes fish sauce, lemon juice, fresh chilies, onions, rare beef and mint. By contrast, the southern rendering has added bean sprouts, Thai basil and cilantro. The white noodles used in pho are called banh pho in Vietnamese.
What's crucial in the making of pho is the clear broth and its delectable taste requiring hours of prep and cooking. The pale broth is usually made of leg bones (with the marrow providing the sweetness) and it must be of good quality, free of sinews and fresh. Other recipes call for oxtail, beef collar bones and pork bones as well as beef cartilage and brisket. The rest of the ingredients include onions, ginger, a whole clove, some cinnamon and star anise.
If you're interested in making pho from scratch here are a couple of recipes I discovered over the web: Asian Online Recipes: beef pho and an easier version from Recipes4us
Bon Appetit!
ETIQUETTE TIDBIT: Vietnamese restaurants do not deliver bills to the customer's tables because it is considered rude in their culture - they don't want you to think they are rushing you out the door. You generally pay at the cash register.
