Twentypho/seven

(Get it? 24/7? Pho?)

Phở, pronounced like “Fuh” (see link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgX2q9WPoqo), not “Po”, “Fur”, etc., is a Vietnamese dish that’s famous worldwide.

It has become inspiration for puns everywhere: Simply pho you, Pho-ever, Pho-nomenon – to name a few. Buzzfeed has even dedicated an article about it

16 Vietnamese Restaurants Obsessed with puns.

So, pretty much you can find Pho anywhere. The thing is, there are many versions of Pho across Vietnam and in the world. Most restaurants outside Vietnam will serve southern-style Pho.

Northern-style is considered a more traditional one. Northern-style Pho’s broth is cooked from cows’ and pig’s bones – which takes hella time to cook. The broth is clear, and sweet without adding of sugar. The rice noodle is soft. The beef has a “just-nice” texture to it (I don’t know how to describe), not too fat, but not too hard. The bowl is decorated with green onions, cilantros. People can add squeezed lime, chillis, garlic to enhance the taste (most people say so, but personally I don’t eat anything else to my bowl).

Now to the Southern-style bowl of Pho.

People in this region have a taste for sweetness. The broth is usually cooked from chicken bones with some dried cuttlefish. The broth is then a bit darker in color, richer in taste. They would include a smaller bowl of the fat broth, and dark soy sauce. Pho this style is eaten with limes, chillis, garlic, beansprouts, onions, coriander, Thai basil, etc.

A bowl of Pho looks simple. Yet it reflects the hours of dedication into cooking the broth (though now “lazier” vendors would use artificial flavors to reduce cost, they also can’t cook that high amount of bones everyday), it reflects the culture and history behind the development of this delicacy.

Try a bowl of Pho. And you will want to return for more. 🙂