Everywhere you go in Vietnam you will see the words Pho and Com written on notices outside cafes. Com is the Vietnamese word for rice and Pho the word for noodles. Cafes, especially small roadside ones, specialise generally in one or the other
Pho Bo (pronounced something like 'fur bear'), is white rice noodles with beef, in beef broth flavoured with typical SE Asian ingredients like shallots, lemongrass, star anise, chilli, spring onions and basil. The dish originated in the North but is popular now all over the country. It makes a great lunch, but I had it for breakfast on holiday in Hanoi a few years ago and it is a lovely way to start the day too
Today we had Pho Bo at a restaurant belonging to Pho 24 This is a nice chain, which has now spread as far as Australia and I notice on their website, London. We've eaten here a few times and although the food isn't as authentic as you might get on the street, it's still pretty good!
Andrew, did they forget to cook your furry bear? Those look like raw ingredients to me!
ReplyDeletePho Bo is a very 'fresh' soup and some ingredients are added at the table and stirred in before eating, including the bean sprouts and herbs. Fresh lime juice is added whilst eating too
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