Pho (noodle soup) is the national food of Vietnam (unofficial but accepted by the majority of Vietnamese people), and originates from Northern Vietnam. It’s usually a bowl containing hot pork broth, rice noodles, and beef/chicken. Hoi An has its own Pho that is kind of different from the original because of its special history and populations. For example, visitors will just see beef in Pho at Hoi An. This article reveals the recipe, how to make, how to eat, and the best places to eat Pho in Hoi An.
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History of Vietnamese Pho Noodle Soup
Vietnamese pho noodle soup appeared and became popular in the early years of the 20th century. It may have originated in Hanoi or Nam Dinh city (still not clear yet). However, somebody thinks that this food may be a local version of a Chinese Cantonese noodle soup or a stewed beef dish of French people.
One of the stories about Pho’s origin is that it was a creation of some vendors in Nam Dinh. In this city, the French built a large textile factory, with many Vietnamese workers and French managers. French people liked eating beef, which led to an increase of beef consumption and a large surplus of beef bones. Vendors in Nam Dinh used beef bones to cook a soup and then used noodles cut from fresh rice papers, to eat with. This soup gradually was loved by factory workers who felt hungry in late night. After that, many workers from Nam Dinh came to Hanoi capital, and brought along the beef noodle soup. People in Hanoi who were famous for gourmet tastes, upgraded this food to a popular food, with sophistications.
According to old people in Hoi An, Pho came to Hoi An in the early 20th century. Hoi An style noodle soup was first seen in the 1940s and 1950s. The earliest Pho stores are Pho Lien, Pho Mai,…
Must Knows about Hoi An Style Pho Noodle Soup
– Location: local restaurants and street vendors around Hoi An city, Quang Nam province, Vietnam
– Served for: breakfast, dinner
– Time: 7 AM to 8 PM daily (except 1st and 14th days of lunar months/vegetarian days)
– Price: 35,000-60,000 VND/bowl
– Calories:
– Travel guide:
Ingredients & How to Make Hoi An Style Pho Noodle Soup
The Broth (Soup)
The soup of Hoi An style beef noodle soup (Pho) is a beef and pork broth. Recipe and skills to make it are handed down from parents to childrens, and are rarely shared to someone else not in the family. In Hoi An, the way to make this broth has some differences from the original.
Firstly, local artisans will look for good beef and pork bones (the main bone is still beef but pork bones are added up to make the broth ‘sweeter’). They often tell slaughterhouses to keep for them (with a certain amount) because many places and people need these bones too. Before weekends or holiday times, they must buy more bones, to serve plenty of customers on those days. The best bones are the ones rich in marrow, such as backbones and rib bones. Pho makers will pick them up in the morning, right after the cows are slaughtered.
After having good bones, local people will wash the bones carefully by tap water, then put them into a pot of water and boil for a while (until the water has boiled). However, they won’t use this soup to eat. It will be thrown away and the bones are washed again by water. The reason is that the soup can not be clean and clear enough.
While building the first soup, people will char the white onion (hanh tay) and ginger (cu gung) on fire. Additionally, they also toast some spices (star anise/hoa hoi, cinnamon stick/que, fennel seeds/tieu hoi huong, cardamom/bach dau khau, gingo/thao qua, coriander seeds/hat ngo) on the pan. These ingredients and ways of cooking make the beef broth later not smelly and flavourful. In Hoi An, half ripe papaya, grilled dried squid,… are used as well. Proportion of spices is the secret of Pho restaurants.
Next, locals will put washed and cooked beef bones into a large pot, and then fill it with water. This step lasts up to 3-4 hours, to have the most delicious broth. To make it clean and clear, it’s needed to remove the scum its the surface.
Rice Noodles
The noodle stick is the next important ingredient of Hoi An style beef noodle soup (Pho). To make it, local artisans will choose gao xi, a kind of rice that is not too sticky, and produces lots of flavour. Unlike the original pho noodles, these ones are made with rice milk and a bit of alum which makes them more chewy (and sure it’s safe!). The additional alum helps the noodles to be not sour in local hot weather conditions.
Beef and Side Veggies
The only meat used for Hoi An style noodle soup is beef. The way that citizens eat it is blanching it to have rare beef (called bo tai in Vietnamese).
In Hoi An, pho noodle soup is also served with fresh herbs (hung que or sweet basil leaves, ngo gai or cilantro leaves, mint or mint), and a dish of blanching fresh bean sprouts, thinly-sliced papaya in vinegar.
How to Eat Hoi An Local Pho Noodle Soup
A bowl of Hoi An style beef noodle soup (Pho) includes beef broth, rice noodles, beef, herbs, and peanuts. A side dish of half-ripe papaya slices in vinegar and blanching fresh bean sprouts is also served up.
The beef broth must be hot, and moderately seasoned. Noodle sticks will be blanched, drained in a couple of minutes, and then put into a ceramic bowl. The best proportion is to fill 30% of the bowl. The beef must be fresh, thinly sliced, and blanched in a separate pot to the broth and the one for noodles. Rare beef slices are placed on noodle sticks, with herbs (shredded spring onion, mint or basil leaf). Local people just need to fill the bowl with beef broth, and then bring it to customer’s tables.
To eat Hoi An style beef noodle soup like a local, visitors need to use papers to clean up the spoon and chopsticks first. After that, we recommend tasting the soup to know its original flavour. To personalize it, visitors can add lime, fresh chilli, Hoi An chilli sauce (jam), pickled onion chops, fish sauce, black pepper, chilli powder (what are available on the table). Sure, mixing them altogether is the way to relish. Don’t forget to take some blanching bean sprouts and pickled green papaya while eating.
Best Places to Eat Hoi An Style Pho
To try Hoi An local pho noodle soup, visitors should come to these places:
– Pho Tung at 51/7 Phan Chu Trinh Street
– Pho Lien (original store on Le Loi Street closed, and now sons & daughters of the owners open three different stores on Le Hong Phong Street, Nguyen Cong Tru Street, La Hoi Street)
– Pho Muoi at 363 Cua Dai St (flagship store) or 38A Thai Phien Street
– Pho Tien at 133 Tran Hung Dao Street
Better to Know about Eating Local in Hoi An
– Local family-run restaurants always serve better local foods than tourist restaurants. Places inside small alleyways potentially are hidden gems. The price is even more affordable at these lesser known spots.
– Restaurants where you can see a queue or crowds, food or drinks there are absolutely better or safer than others. Vietnamese people also avoid places without people eating, such as roadside eateries.
– Hot foods are often safe to eat for non-Vietnamese people. Refuse cold food (especially ones sold on the street, markets) or things you don’t see people cooking.
– Make sure that you learn some basic Vietnamese words or sentences to order foods, such as xin chao (hello, hi), cho toi mot (something) (I want one…), toi an chay (I am vegetarian), khong cay (no spicy), cam on (thank you), tam biet (goodbye) or numbers (mot/one, hai/two, ba/three, bon/four, nam/five, sau/six, bay/seven, tam/eight, chin/nine, and muoi/ten).
– Ask any local people you know (tour guide, driver, hotel receptionists, bellmen, etc) to receive their recommendation for good places to eat local.
– Raw vegetables are popularly used in local dishes, such as noodles or noodle soup or sandwich. They are often washed by tap water or unwashed. If can not drink tap water, remove or refuse them. Likewise, in most iced drinks (such as coffee or herbal tea), people add ice made by tap water also.
– On the 1st day and 14th-15th days of each lunar month, Hoi An citizens eat vegetarians. Many local restaurants and street businesses will be closed by that.
– If you don’t eat pork or beef, due to diet or religious restrictions, be careful when want to try local food here, if don’t see the ingredient description. Pork and beef are very popular meats, so they will be in numerous dishes. Street vendors may say ‘no pork’ or ‘no beef’ for better business, but please check before buying!
– Consider joining a food tour guided by locals who know much better about dishes in the city, including things never mentioned in guidebooks or on the internet.
– If have an allergy (milk, egg, peanut, wheat,…), ask anybody you know before trying or search for ingredients on the internet. By the way, fish sauce is popularly used to marinate Vietnamese foods, so make sure that you know this information if you’re fish allergic.
– Food portion (or size) here is often not really big (locals prefer eating with their family at home). You may try double or some different dishes for main meals.
– If don’t see the price on the menu, please ask in advance to avoid overcharging, especially when you are not a local. In Vietnamese, how much is bao nhieu.
– Most popular cutleries are chopsticks and spoons. To know how to use it, browse here
