Vietnamese Noodle Soup

“Phở” ( in English, written “pho”) is a Vietnamese beef and noodle soup from North Vietnam. The soup includes noodles made from rice and is often served with basil, lime, bean sprouts and peppers that are added to the soup by the customer.

Ingredients and preparation

“Phở” is served in a bowl with 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. ‘With the lot’ (made with chicken broth and all or most of the shop’s chicken and cattle offerings, including chicken hearts and livers and beef tripe and tendons) is known as ‘Phở đặc biệt’ (specialty phở). There are also various vegetarian varieties of phở.”Pho bac” is a Hanoi style pho “made with wider, slitherier rice noodles, that was the original version of the dish before is was jazzed up with tripe, brisket, tendon and rare flank steak by Saigon pleasure seekers 70 years ago.

Secret ingredients

In traditional “phở”, there is “sá sùng” (scientific name: sipunculus nudus- a kind of peanut worm) to sweeten the broth. There is another scarce ingredient which is “cà cuống” (scientific name: lethocerus indicus). People use cà cuống oil extract which is spicy and aromatic to add to “phở” bowl.

Varieties of phở by ingredients

# Phở bò tái: “Phở” with half-done beef fillet.
# Phở bò chín nạc:”Phở” with well-done beef brisket.
# Phở bắp bò: “Phở” with beef muscle.
# Phở nạm bò: “Phở” with beef flank.
# Phở gân bò: “Phở” with beef tendon.
# Phở sách bò: “Phở” with beef tripe.
# Phở bò viên: “Phở” with beef meat balls.
# Phở gà: Chicken “phở”.
# Phở sot vang: “Phở” in beef stew soup

Gallery