Pho or Vietnamese rice noodle soup, the dish you should taste when travelling to Hanoi, Vietnam

Vietnamese rice noodle soup and its fame in the world – you should try in your trip to Vietnam

Vietnamese rice noodle soup is one of very famous local specialty in Vietnam that you must try in your Vietnam Holiday Package.According to Bussiness Insider newspaper: “Pho was on the top list of 40 dishes in the world that should try in your life”.When travel to Vietnam, you can find Pho in every corner across the country, but Hanoi is considered as a right place to enjoy the best Pho in Vietnam.In this article, we will detail you about Pho, how to eat Pho and good restaurants to enjoy the Pho in Hanoi

“Vietnamese rice noodle soup” & its important elements to make a good bowl of Pho

Pho is translated as Vietnamese rice noodle soup (with chicken or beef).Many people may wonder what makes a delicious bowl of Pho? Basically,there are 5 ingredients: fresh rice noodle, good cut meat (beef or chicken), hot broth, fresh herbs and the right spices. All those 5 ingredients are combined in the best balanced recipe and time consuming to make a good bowl

The first rule of a good bowl of noodle is: Pho has to be served in ceramic bowls. It will taste like junk if served in plastic or glass bowls. The bowls to serve have to be in medium size neither too big nor too small. If it is too big there is too much of Pho and you will lose your appetite. Because Pho is supposed to be a side dish or a small meal only. If is it too small the broth will cool down quickly causing the dish not tasty anymore. Also in a tiny bowl you cannot put enough of right quantity of noodle, meat and other spices in.

Rice noodle in Pho Thin restaurant

The second factor is the broth water which is made after cooking cow and pig bones in water for around 10 hours over a coal stove.This is a very important element to decide whether Pho makes a sweet taste and good smell or not.When the broth is not cooked in a standard way, then Pho taste could be bland and not outstanding in smell.In order to serve more customers during the day,the pots used to cook broth have to be big enough to contain enough broth.

Together with the broth, the meat (beef or chicken) takes an important role in making a good bowl of Pho.Chickens have to be the Vietnamese free range farms and are raised in natural conditions.Farm chickens in big quantity are never used to make a good bowl. The raw beef should be lean and looks deep red and fresh.

The last factor to make a perfect bowl is the side species. You will often see noodle restaurant display fresh chili, chili sauce, lemon or lime, pepper and garlic soared vinegar on every table. When a hot bowl of Pho comes, you then squeeze some drop lemon in, add chili or chili sauce to your taste, pepper if it is beef noodle. The pickled garlic with vinegar can be used instead of lemon. Now mix everything well and drink a spoon of broth to make sure your bowl is now perfectly spiced.

Beef noodle in Pho Bat Dan restaurant

How many kinds of Pho are there and what are the best?

Originally there are only 2 kinds: with beef or chicken. Nowadays to please eaters they can even create Vietnamese rice noodle soup with pork, shrimp or whatever their customers want. In some ways, I want to blame those restaurants for destroying the traditional noodle soup. Pho is only good when it is served with either beef or chicken. Putting any other kind of meat into this dish is a wrong way of eating Phở. And it is simply not Pho anymore. And my recommendation is: when you know your preference beef or chicken, you go to the restaurant who serve either beef or chicken, not both. That’s because when they have only one thing to do, they tend to do it at best. Noodle restaurants who offer you both kinds beef and chicken there will be likely less chance for you to have the best Pho of the day. So how can you tell if they use the best ingredients? Good noodle restaurant invests a lot of time to prepare the best meat for their customers. They will have to wake up very early in the morning to go to the markets just to buy the best fresh cuts from butchers’ or get free range chicken meats for their best taste of Pho.

How to eat Vietnamese Pho?

You should use a spoon together with chopsticks when eating Pho. In Vietnam you’ll see a big variety of chopsticks: plastic one, metal ones…and bamboo chopsticks. The most suitable for eating noodle is a pair of bamboo chopsticks as they are light, easy to grip. When using chopsticks fishing the Pho out of the bowl, use a spoon to spoon some broth in the same time. You then eat the noodle and drink some broth out of the spoon. By doing it that way the bite in your mouth combines everything: some noodle, meat, herb and the broth. It will be much more juicy and delicious than when you eat the noodle only. Some may choose to eat the noodle first then drink the broth directly from the bowl. But the best way is to combine chopsticks and spoon. That’s the reason why you’ll always see a spoon being served together with chopsticks.

A bowl of chicken soup

I’ve seen many tourists eating a bowl of Vietnamese rice noodle soup and drink a Hanoi beer at the same time. It can be good only for taking some photos of you eating then show your friends. Beer never makes a perfect pair with Pho. Worse there are people eating Pho with a Coca cola, tea, coffee or other kinds of soft drinks. When eating this dish you don’t have to drink anything together. If you want to drink,do it later when you’re finished. The only drink acceptable here is a small cup of Vietnamese rice wine. It will increase your appetite when eating Pho. But since Vietnamese rice wine is so strong (about 40 percent alcohol) you should not combine it too much with Pho. Otherwise it could erase your taste away.

When is the best time of the day to eat Pho?

Well,of course,you can eat it anytime in the day and it is served the whole day: for breakfast, lunch, dinner and even supper. But to my experience Pho taste the best in the morning, for breakfast. That’s when you’ve woken up from a long sleep and your stomach is empty. Pho being served as a complete small meal will fill you easily. And in the early morning the weather is still cool not too hot you’ll find it easier to eat a hot bowl. As I said earlier Pho has to be eaten supper hot. You will not enjoy it too much when it is almost 40°C outside.

Where to eat the best Pho?

Now when this dish has become so popular all over Vietnam, you’ll see Phở being served everywhere: from the narrowest street alleys to the most expensive franchises and hotels. Should you eat Pho in a hotel? Will a big restaurant as good as the one on the street? The place to eat Pho is also very important. If you expect to have a good bowl of Pho in a big restaurant or hotel,you may be disappointed. In those places,Pho is just one dish among the many choices in the menu. And people never go to a big restaurant to eat Pho only. Thus they don’t invest enough time and work to make the best noodle soup.When you come to a Pho-only restaurant and you see a huge broth pot of about 1 meter tall right in front, that’s when you’ll have chance to get a good bowl. That’s the reason why you can hardly find a good bowl of Phở in a restaurant where they are not noodle experts. So next time you eat Pho, choose a street side Pho-only restaurant over fancy ones, you are likely to get a very much better bowl of this special dish.

Pho Ly Quoc Su Restaurant

Below are the list of local restaurants for best taste of Pho in Hanoi, you can get reference of and when making a trip to Hanoi, you can call on to taste the best bowl of Vietnamese rice noodle soup in following local restaurants.

1.Pho Bat Dan (Pho Gia Truyen) in 49 Bat Dan street, only open 6h30-8h30, the cost around 45.000 vnd-55.000 vnd/ a bowl of beef noodle.Try to come here early to avoid queuing.

2.Pho Thin in 13 Lo Duc street, open from 5 a.m to 21h00 pm, the cost is around 45.000 -60.000 vnd.

3.Pho Ly Quoc Su in 10 Ly Quoc Su street, branches in 41 Hang Voi street & N2A Hoang Minh Giam street for beef noodle, open 6h00 am- 14h00 am & 17h30-22h00

4.Pho Suong in Trung Yen alley, Dinh Liet street for beef noodle, the cost of 45.000-55.000 vnd/bowl.

5.Pho Ga Yen Ninh in 63 Yen Ninh street, specialized in chicken noudle, the cost from 60.000 vnd – 150.000 vnd depending on type of chicken meat.

Taste Pho, the iconic dish in Hanoi, with Golden Holiday Travel.

Hopefully, our share about Pho is helpful for your coming trip to Hanoi, Vietnam.Besides Pho, you can tast other authentic street foods uniquely famous in Hanoi Vietnam as well.Join us in a Hanoi street food tour, you will get to know about Hanoi’s ancient streets while stopping by different street food stalls, the guide will introduce about the dishes, how they are made, then you will have chances to taste them directly. For this experience, feel free to contact us +84.988451530 (whatsapp, viver) or email us to [email protected]