Monday, July 06, 2015

Doug says: What is a guy to eat - cheap, and fast but always good - Pho in Saigon

Pho 32


A type of Vietnamese noodle soup know as Pho, in English it would be pronounced like fuh, if there was such a word.  Originally a street food ate by workers as a quick, inexpensive morning meal. Though, over time it has risen to one of the world’s most popular eats.  As an example in 2011 CNN GO ranked pho as the 28 th most popular dishes in the world.

The soup pho gets its name from the pho noodle which is the base of the noodle soup.  In creating this dish the pho noodles are added to an individual serving dish filled with the beef broth.   The broth is created by simmering beef bones and adding seasoning over a lengthy period, like 12 hours or something like that, anyway a long time.

After the broth is ladled into a serving bowl, an individual portion of pho noodles is dipped into boiling water for a minute or two in order to soften them. Once the noodles are soft they are added to the individual bowl of broth, along with a small amount of finely sliced beef, onions and a dash of ground pepper.

At your table will be a plate with sprigs of fresh ngo gai, hung que and…. Along with these vegetables their will be sliced jalapeno pepper and lime.  It’s up to you to decide how many leaves you want to pull from the sprigs and pop them into your bowl of pho. Then season the pho to your liking with hoisin sauce and chili paste and oh ya, they should have brought you a plate of bean sprouts, use your chopsticks and scrape them into the soup.  You do know how to use chopsticks, don't you? Anyway not to worry, there will be spoons on the table as Vietnamese use both hands to eat soup, chop stick in the right and a spoon in the left.  However this is out of the realm of most Westerners, myself included, so just dig in and remember to smile a lot.

A bit of pho history:  So now you may be wondering how and where pho came from; If not you're not or just could just care less, than  go ahead and skip this part.  For those still with me, here we go.  In the North of Vietnam around the late 1800’s pho was introduced and quickly became a very popular, inexpensive street food served in the morning to workers.
About the same time the French started colonizing Vietnam this is where some think the pho name derived from. As their is a French Phrase “pot of feu” – meaning pot of fire, which referred to the lengthy time taken to cook the broth used as the soup base.  Which tosses out my original pho noodle theory but a lot of pho has passed over the pallet since and history can be a fickle mistress.  

Spreading pho’s influence in gastronomic affairs was hastened by the influx of a million or so Northerners who resettled to the south in 1954 and the pho flowed along with them.

Then came along the Vietnam War and the eventual takeover of the South by North Vietnam and if anything positive was to come of this it was the spread of pho’s deliciousness.   As the refugees fled the tyranny of the north as it took control of the South they carried with them the richness of pho.  

helper and owner waiting for you Pho 32
My favorites for phoPho 32- 32 Le Thi Rieng, in district 1 is just a skip and a jump from the backpacker’s area and not far from Starbucks at the roundabout. Old school here, charcoal fired hot pot for the noodles, open air seating with a kicked back atmosphere.  As in the song “ just walk right in and sit on down”, no menu or
friendly staff at Pho 32
much English so just point at a bowl of pho, it’s the only thing going so they will get it..  You can order iced tea (tra da) and beverages along with coffee (ca phe sua da - iced coffee with condensed milk) and drinks, all except the tra da come from the motor bike seat, upholstery shop a few doors down. Cost for pho ba and a ca phe sua da about 55,000 dong.


My other pick is Pho Quyen 323 Pham Ngu Lgo again in district 1 and on
busy corner Do Q, Dau / Pham Nhu Lao across from 9-23 park
the edge of the back packing area, across from 9-23 Park.
cute and friendly staff
Pho Quyen


Has an English menu offering both beef (bo) and chicken (ga) pho and a couple other soup entries along with coffee, tea  and 
sodas.   Pho bo and a ca phe sua da is about 75,000 dong.

Bon appétit - thanks for stopping by.......Doug