Pho Hanoi: Ingredients & Recipe of Hanoi Noodle Soup

What is Pho? Pho Hanoi or Hanoi Noodle Soup is a Typical Vietnamese cuisine, that is always a hot topic and cuisine for every local and international tourist when visiting to Ha Noi. We are proud to be the son of a country with a unique cuisine that not only attracts domestic people but also foreign tourists. With a diverse culinary culture in different regions, food is always the thing that attracts the most tourists. In many votes of domestic and international newspapers, "pho" is the most favorite dish of both Vietnamese and international friends.

Pho Hanoi

The most famous Pho is still Pho Hanoi with 2 most popular of Pho Ga (Chicken Pho) and Pho Bo (Beef Pho). I don't know when, pho has become an extremely attractive dish every time I come to Hanoi. With a unique taste that cannot be found anywhere else, Pho Hanoi has been deeply imprinted in the human subconscious, by default it is the best dish. If you want to eat pho, you have to go to Hanoi. In the 1940s, pho was very famous in Hanoi. Pho is a dish that can be eaten at any time you want: morning, noon, afternoon, and evening. A special feature, Pho is not served with or served with anything else. A bowl of pho includes: broth, rice noodles, seasonings such as pepper, scallions, lemon slices, chili... The broth of pho can be made from beef bones: lump bone, tubular bone and clavicle bone. Pho must be chewy and soft. Green onions, chili, and pepper add to the flavor of a bowl of pho. Depending on the cooking secret, each place has a different taste of pho.

When making pho, the most important step is to cook the broth. The broth is the soul of a bowl of pho, so the broth is not good for the bowl of pho nor does it retain its flavor. Traditional broth is simmered from the bones of beef with some spices for many hours. The bone selection is also very careful. The chef chooses that the bones must be free of meat, the bones must be washed, and then put in a pot of water to boil. In the wrong boil, the cook will pour out all the water. This is so that the broth does not get contaminated with the smell of beef bones. Then they put the water back in the pot again. At this time, the new simmering water is used as the broth for the bowl of pho.

Recipe Pho Hanoi

At this time, to make the broth taste good, the chef will put the cooked ginger and onion into the pot. The broth is boiled over high heat until it boils. When the water begins to boil, the cook lowers the heat and begins to skim the foam in the pot. The cook picks up the foam so that the broth is clear, not cloudy. Then they add water again, let it heat until it boils, reduce the heat and continue to skim. They keep doing this continuously until the broth is clear, no more foam appears. At this time, the person cooks some spices and boils it on low heat so that the pot of water comes to a rolling boil. Do this so that the pot of water is clear, the sweetness from the bones has time to dissolve into the broth and keep the hot temperature. Usually in pho shops, they often leave the pot of water on low heat all day, until there are no customers and no more sales. Hanoi's Pho is attractive because its broth has the sweet taste of the bones, along with the soft chewy noodles, the beef has just been cooked to taste. The color of the broth is clear, the thin white noodle soup blends with the flavors of scallions, chili, cilantro, and lemon. All blend together into a unified, inseparable, missing one thing, a bowl of pho cannot be perfect.

There are three main pho dishes: noodle soup, stir-fried pho and pan-fried pho. Of the three types above, noodle soup is the most popular. Pho is served hot. The hot bowl of pho is very suitable for cold days in Hanoi. Pho water includes beef noodle soup, chicken noodle soup, and pho tim liver. There are different types of pho because the broth and meat are different. But gourmets still choose beef pho for their menu. Pho is attractive by the quintessential taste as well as the sweetness that the broth brings. Visitors are attracted by pho because of its strangeness as well as its unique taste. A good bowl of pho is always presented in a porcelain bowl of just the right size. When eating pho, one hand will hold the chopsticks, the other hand will hold the spoon. The most commonly used chopsticks to eat pho are bamboo chopsticks because of their convenience as well as being non-slippery to drop the piece of pho. Pho is served hot and is not served with any other dishes or drinks. Pho is a delicate and typical dish of Ha Thanh land. Pho has moved generations of writers to create great literary works. As Thach Lam in "Ha Noi chopping six streets" wrote: "Pho is a special gift of Hanoi, not only Hanoi has it, but because only Hanoi is delicious". There are many other writers and poets who write about Pho Hanoi such as Nguyen Tuan, Vu Bang...

pho-hanoi-recipe

Pho is a traditional, famous dish of Vietnam and especially Hanoi. Anyone who comes to Hanoi wants to enjoy a hot bowl of pho. Children far from Hanoi, when returning home, always find familiar pho restaurants to enjoy the taste they have not tasted for a long time. Pho is our culinary value, our proud culinary feature.

Recipe and How to Cook Pho Hanoi – Hanoi Noodle Soup:

- Ingredients for cooking rare beef noodle soup (you can replace beef by Chicken, Seafood,...):

1.5 kg beef shank bone
200g beef fillet
500g beef balls
Rice noodle
Red onion, green onion, onion
Lemon, ginger
Cloves, star anise, cardamom, cinnamon or pho seasoning
Brown sugar, granulated salt, monosodium glutamate

- Step 1: Prepare ingredients

Buy beef bones and wash them thoroughly. Soak beef bones in water for about 30 minutes, add a little salt mixed with lemon to help reduce the smell of beef. Next, blanch the bones in boiling water then rinse thoroughly again.
After the onion is washed, drain the water. And bring the onion toasted over low heat, when it is fragrant.
Next, wash the beef fillet thoroughly. Cut the beef fillet into thin slices, just eaten to arrange on top of the pho. Onions are finely chopped.

- Step 2: Cook the broth

Then put the bones in the pot, add 1 quart of water, 1 tablespoon salt, and the roasted onion and start stewing, if you have a pressure cooker, using a pressure cooker will cook faster.
After stewing the bones for about 30 minutes, add 1.5 liters of water. Continue adding beef balls and finally add cloves, cardamom, cinnamon and star anise to the pot.
We cook on medium heat and do not cover the lid, often skim the foam to make the broth clear and more delicious.
After 30 minutes of stewing, we take out all the beef bones and aromatic spices.
Next will season this broth, add a tablespoon of granulated salt, a tablespoon of rock sugar, a tablespoon of monosodium glutamate and stir well to dissolve the seasoning.

- Step 3: Finished Product