Vietnamese
Pho
Influenced by the Chinese and French, the noodle Pho originated in Northern Vietnam during the mid-1880s. Rice noodle and spices came from China and the French popularized the eating of red meat. It is believed that "pho;" is derived from "pot au feu" a French soup. Vietnamese cooks blended the Chinese, French and native influences to make a dish that is uniquely Vietnamese. The popularity of pho spread southwards in 1954, when the country was divided into North and South Vietnam. As the dish moved south, cooks infused it with additional ingredients until it evolved into the version that is commonly served today.
Northern style pho is simpler and made with less ingredients. There are fewer cuts of meat and small slices of ginger are laid on top of the soup. The pho is served without bean sprouts or herbs. Instead, it is accompanied by green chilies and lime only. Southern style pho is a complex dish made from a dozen ingredients. Bean sprouts, fresh basil and saw herb are typically served with each bowl. As with the Northern style pho, green chilies and lime are used as condiments.
Refugees fleeing Vietnam in the spring of 1975 brought their cultures and cuisine, of which pho has become the most popular among Americans. Typically Pho restaurants in America are serving Southern style pho, although a few outlets also serve Northern style pho. These restaurants also will be serving other Vietnamese dishes like goi cuon (spring rolls) and cha gio (egg rolls).
Pho is a Vietnamese beef noodle soup although there is a variation of pho made with chicken. The meat verity includes: rare beef steak slices, sliced flank, crunchy flank, fatty flank, sliced beef brisket, tendon, tripe, beef meatballs. Other ingredients are; basil, sawgrass or saw leaf herb, bean sprouts, scallions, cilantro and chili. Condiments include; lime, chili sauce (usually Sriracha hot chili sauce) hoisin sauce or plum sauce.
One need only sample a steaming bowl of pho to understand why it remains a cherished tradition in its native homeland of Vietnam and why it rapidly is becoming a culinary phenomenon in America. Its delicately spiced broth, complex flavors and never fail to delight the palate and satisfy the appetite.
Glancing at a pho menu may be intimidating, but knowing what everything means is half the battle - and knowing what you like is the other half! Standard garnishes are supplied with every bowl: bean sprouts (giá), wedges of lime or lemon (chanh), basil (rau que), scallions (hành), cilantro (ngò), slices of serrano or jalapeno chilies (ot), and if you're lucky, sawgrass or "saw leaf herb" (rau ngò gai). Generally, scallions and cilantro are pre-chopped and sprinkled on your bowl immediately before serving; the rest of the vegetables and herbs are brought to your table for individualized garnishing.
Squeeze a wedge of lime and sprinkle a little black pepper into the broth before tearing herb leaves into bite-sized shreds. Add small amounts of bean sprouts and shredded herbs into your bowl as you eat. Overly large doses of garnishes will cool the soup too quickly and therefore impede optimal enjoyment.
Lovers of spiciness invariably add a generous squirt of Sriracha hot chili sauce (tuong ot) directly into their bowls to heighten the heat and add a characteristic reddish tint to the broth. Hoisin sauce (tuong an pho) is strictly optional and should be added only if the broth is not flavorful enough (in which case you should find another pho restaurant). Dollops of both chili and hoisin sauces, slightly mixed together, should remain in a small dipping bowl on the side to enhance slices of meat and other trimmings as you eat.
A comprehensive menu will offer a wide assortment of meat and trimmings. If you are new to the pleasure of pho, you may want to order the most basic meat selection: rare slices of beef steak (tái). A bowl of pho tái will please even the most finicky eaters. If you want a more traditional pho experience, include cooked slices of tender beef flank (nam) in your order: pho tái nam. The more experimental you feel, and the higher your tolerance for fatty cuts and more "exotic" fare, the further down the menu you will venture. Beef tendon (gân) and tripe, thinly sliced beef stomach lining (sách), provide chewy and crunchy texture.
Not all restaurants offer beef meatballs (bò viên), but they can be a tasty addition to your pho if they are of high quality. Bò viên is nothing like the meatball found in traditional Italian cuisine. Cartilage and tendon are blended in bò viên to create a dense and slightly chewy meatball. Poor quality bò viên often has too much cartilage, rendering it rubbery and tasteless. Good bò viên should be both soft and chewy as well as flavorful and fresh-tasting.
With all the meat variations along with the herbs and spices, there is sure to be a bowl that will suit your tastes. The journey to find your favorite bowl of pho will indeed be a fun conquest to attempt. Eating pho is a ritualistic act of having fun and enjoying the process of eating. Pho is a dish that will make you slow down, calm your time, and saver each mouthful. Use chopsticks, they too will slow down the fast past American so that they can enjoy a unique dinning experience.