Famous for its deliciousness and variety, Vietnamese Pho, with its attractive taste and unique cuisine recipe, captures foreign tourists’ hearts and souls for the first time.

Plus, the perfect combination of vegetables and meat makes it one of the healthiest foods in the world. There are also some Vietnamese Pho variants here, which can give foreigners amazing experiences.

Discover 10 funny facts about Vietnamese Pho that make it so special!

Pho’s story

Pho (pronounced “foo”) dates from the 19th to the 20th century and is considered a national dish of Vietnamese culture.

Traditionally cooked in beef or chicken broth, it is seasoned with various flavors and herbs. In the Western world, chefs and popular Pho lovers are finding more creative interpretations of traditional dishes.

“Pho” refers to the noodles used in the dish, not the soup combination itself. Pho is the only dish that contains wheat flour noodles. The soup stock can judge the quality of Pho. The large Pho bowl is crystal clear and flavorful.

Everything you need to know about Pho

Type of Pho

As for Pho, there are two basic types of him: Pho ga (chicken) and Pho bo (beef). Condiments for these two delicious soups include hoisin lime sauce, chili sauce, vinegar, garlic, sugar, and a sweet and tangy sauce made with soybeans.

Pho Bo

Traditionally, the beef is served Pho Bo medium rare and continues cooking in the broth or steamer. Beef options at Pho Bo include fatty brisket, flank steak, tendons, crispy flank steak, and beef balls.

Pho Ga

It is generally easier than Pho Bo. Add the chicken to the broth and the bean sprouts, greens, leeks, basil, chili, and coriander.

Health benefits of Pho

Pho is more than just a flavorful, calming, and delicious soup. It also has many amazing health benefits. Consider limiting salt and pasta and adding vegetables to your dishes for a nutritious, low-calorie meal. A single bowl of Pho can contain up to 30g of protein, half the recommended amount for a healthy adult.

Origin of Pho

It originates in North Vietnam in the mid-1880s. The cuisine is heavily influenced by French and Chinese cuisine.

Rice noodles and spices were imported from China. The French popularized eating red meat. ” Pho ” is believed to come from the French soup “Pot-au-feu.”

Vietnamese chefs have blended Chinese, French, and local influences to create uniquely Vietnamese dishes.

Pho’s popularity spread southwards from 1954, when the country was divided into South and North in Vietnam.

As the food moved south, chefs added additional ingredients until it evolved into the version widely served today.

Pho and the legendary stories and regional variations

Regional Pho variations

The origin of Pho, which spread to the South as a northern dish, explains the main difference between North and Southern cuisine. Northern-style Pho tends to be simpler and made with fewer ingredients.

There is little meat, and thin slices of ginger are on top of the soup. The Pho is served without sprouts or herbs. Instead, it is done only with green chilies and limes.

Southern-style Pho is a complex dish that combines 12 ingredients. Bean sprouts saw palmetto, and fresh basil, are usually served with each bowl. Green chili and lime are used as spices, similar to northern-style Pho.

In the spring of 1975, refugees from Vietnam brought with them hopes and dreams of a better life. They also brought their culture and cuisine. Among them, Pho has become the most popular among Americans.

There are now about 2,000 Pho restaurants in the United States and Canada. Pho is usually served in the Southern style, but some outlets also do it in a Northern manner. Typical eateries sell Pho and Vietnamese dishes such as goi cuon (spring rolls) and cha gio (egg rolls).

10 fun facts about Pho Vietnam

1. The name Pho may be of French origin.

Feu means fire in French, and pot-au-feu is the name of a rustic beef stew in French cuisine.

Thus, some argue that the similarity between fu and fu indicates that the French directly influences Vietnamese soup.

It is simple to see why they would come to such a conclusion.

France colonized Vietnam in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and had a major effect on Vietnamese cuisine, from the baguettes used in banh mi to the Vietnamese names for the ingredients brought to the country by the French.

For example, potatoes are known as khoai tây in Vietnam. It means “western yam.”

2. Pho could have come from Cantonese – it’s complicated.

But not everyone is convinced that Pho comes from French. According to Dung Quang Trinh’s essay, as Xao Trâu.

Known as noodle soup made from slices of buffalo meat, it was popular in Vietnam before Pho. Many of the stalls selling the soup were Chinese, so the Vietnamese Cantonese name was often used for this dish.

Trinh suggests that the name may have been shortened over time to phấn a or phốn ơ and eventually merged into the single word Pho, which means poop. Not very appealing to the crowd. Chinese and French cultures may have influenced Pho, but it is hard to pinpoint exactly where the word originated.

3. Pho is a melting pot in many ways.

Before French colonization, beef was not very common in Vietnamese cuisine. It was more popular to have cows work in the fields than to slaughter them for dinner.

Once the French arrived, they brought their love for beef, which became more common.

It was an inexpensive way to go: rice noodles and adding flavors like ginger, onion, star anise, and cardamom can turn a simple beef soup into a comforting and complex meal.

4. North-South relations.

Early Pho, which originated in northern Vietnam, is called Pho back.

It includes rice vermicelli, beef and spice clear soup, and thinly sliced ​​beef.

Pho Nam, or Southern-style Pho, did not appear until 1954, when South Vietnam separated from North Vietnam.

South Vietnamese cooks are generally generous with side dishes and condiments such as Thai basil, coriander, lime, bean sprouts, hoisin, chilies, and fish sauce.

Fun facts you should know about Pho

5. Phở Gà came later.

Perhaps the big change South Vietnam brought to Pho was the introduction of Pho ga or chicken Pho.

However, today regional variations of Pho, such as duck Pho, grilled liver Pho, and even red wine Pho, are embraced throughout Vietnam.

6. Vendors used to sell secret Pho.

In the 1950s, the Communist Party of Vietnam bought many businesses, including the Phu Estate in Vietnam. At the time, the Soviet Union was sending potatoes and flour to Vietnam, and government officials decreed that all noodles must be made with one of these flours, and rice flour was a taboo, food writer Andrea Nguyen said.

It tells the story of her frustrated Pho fans and the chef who serves them. Several stalls devised a system to keep potato noodles in front to avoid undue attention from authorities but instructed customers how to order from a secret rice noodle stash.

7. American soldiers unknowingly ate Pho at a secret Viet Cong

Some American soldiers unknowingly ate Pho at secret Viet Cong gathering places during the Vietnam War.

It was a popular place to enjoy a warm bowl of Pho Bo.

The restaurant was a few hundred yards from the U.S. military police headquarters in Saigon then, and U.S. soldiers were known to eat there occasionally.

These soldiers didn’t know that one of the servers serving beef noodles his soup was Go He Toai, the leader of the Vietnamese resistance.

Toai had set up the restaurant’s upper floor as a secret meeting location for the Viet Cong in the city. One of the war’s largest and most critical military campaigns, the Tet Offensive, was partly planned in 1968.

8. War changed Pho.

Meat was scarce during the war with the U.S., so Vietnamese Pho shops started serving vegetarian Pho in MSG-spiced broth. It’s called a “Pho không người lái” or “pilotless Pho,” a reference to the U.S. Air Force’s unmanned reconnaissance drones.

9. The end of the Vietnam War was a new beginning for Pho.

Hundreds of thousands of refugees fled Vietnam after the fall of Saigon in 1975. Since they settled in countries such as Canada, Australia, and the United States, their career choices were often limited. It has become a popular route for various Vietnamese immigrants.

The opening of his first Pho store in the so-called Little Saigon community, such as California, was primarily aimed at other immigrants. The dish didn’t gain traction among America’s wider dining audience until the late 20th century when American tourists visited Vietnam in greater numbers.

It accelerated the dish’s rise in the West since you ordered chicken Pho on a trip to Vietnam in 2000.

Multiple Americans still can’t pronounce the name, but Pho is well-known in America. Name.

10. Pho is popular all over the world.

Even McDonald’s has its version of the recipe, the Pho burger, added to Vietnamese restaurant menus in 2020.

It comprises a McMuffin-style egg, 2 beef patties, and herbs such as coriander. The bold condiment accompanying the burger is Pho broth, boiled in a rich sauce.

Discover 10 fun facts about Pho Vietnam and enjoy the tasty bowl ò Pho. It takes so long to prepare a pot of Pho; most stalls offer either chicken or beef, but not both. Pho restaurants are open all day, but roadside Pho is usually served in the morning.