114 YEARS OF HANOI PHO
Hanoi has experienced 1014 years of history, but pho has only over 100 years, but that is enough to build the reputation of Hanoi pho. Who cooked pho first is still in doubt.
But certainly, pho has chosen Hanoi as its base to form and develop strongly to become famous with the Pho Hanoi brand. Some people say that since the early 1920s, pho shops have appeared in Hanoi, however, it was not until the 1930s and 1940s that pho became popular, with the core recipe: beef bone broth + rice cake. Fresh pho + beef + herbs and spices.
From now on, pho officially becomes considered a delicious, delicate, nutritious, attractive but not too expensive gift for all people in society. Pho no longer hangs around in poor housing areas and factories but has penetrated into the bustling commercial area of "six streets".
The sophistication of Hanoi people's taste gradually refines and hones pho into a precious gem. To deodorize the bad smell of beef bones, ginger, star anise, and cardamom are added (Chinese style), to increase the sweetness, grilled onions are used, slow cooking method (French style), put in a bowl. For beautiful, clear pho, it is best to use cooked meat (Vietnamese people prefer boiled meat), to balance the flavor, use green onions, garlic vinegar, fresh chili, and herbs.
Therefore, the standard bowl of pho of Hanoi people will not have a broth simmered with dried shrimp, sea worms, or dried squid like the broth of zebra noodles; The flavor is not changed by fermented ingredients such as chili sauce, soy sauce, and fish sauce; The broth should not be clouded by fresh meat (undercooked pho) or poached eggs; The broth must be hot, the meat must be cut into large pieces, thin, not thick, not lumpy, the small noodle cake must be soft but chewy.
More than 100 years have passed like a sigh. However, it is enough to turn pho into the most typical dish of Hanoi, creating a huge and rich pho cooking industry, as well as a strong pho force. These pho dishes can be eaten every day, or even eaten instead of rice for a whole week if conditions permit.
Their biggest punishment is not being able to eat pho for a period of time. The biggest crime for them is eating a bowl of half-cooked pho, cold pho or pho mixed with miscellaneous ingredients, far from the original recipe. And of course, the biggest reward for pho wings is to eat a delicious bowl of authentic pho from a certain pho restaurant at a certain time frame.
HANOI, 24 KEYS OF PHO
With pho connoisseurs, every time frame has a suitable type of pho to eat, not just eating at a certain restaurant, regardless of morning, noon, or evening. Pho Do's wandering footsteps of eating pho, invisibly, created a map of Hanoi's pho in one day.
Early risers always have many unique options for pho dishes. At 6 a.m., they quickly went to the pho restaurant at 47 Bat Dan to eat pho. The pho at this restaurant is especially excellent in terms of meat, very rich, soft and sweet. It has to be 6 a.m. to leisurely eat pho, but just a few dozen minutes later you have to wait in a long line waiting for your turn. But pho here you have to order yourself, pay in advance, wait your turn, then bring it to the table yourself.
Around 7:00 a.m., those who have just finished a tiring night from playing or working, and need to recover their strength, often go to the end of Gam Cau alley and Hang Giay to eat salty pho. The characteristic of Salty Pho is that it is very salty because it adds a lot of salt, which is considered to be salt to compensate for sweat. Pho Man has very impressive pieces of stewed meat as big as a fist.
At 8am, if you like a space to eat pho mixed with the sound of the church bell of the Cathedral, then stop by to eat pho on Au Trieu alley. In this shop, the wife is the one in charge, while the husband is only responsible for arranging traffic and collecting money. 9am is the time to visit Hang Vai Street to eat Pho Lam. Turtle core, corn, and bucket are "must enjoy" offers for those who come here to eat pho for the first time.
At 10am, you should walk to Chieu Hang Dong pho to make a bowl of well-cooked pho. Mr. Chieu is Mr. Thang's father-in-law, the owner of Bat Dan pho restaurant, but the pho has a Nam Dinh look because his grandfather was a resident of Van Cu village who came to Hanoi to start a business.
11:00 am, eating beef pho at this time is a bit late so change to chicken pho. So when you go to Nam Ngu, go to Mrs. Lam's pho and eat a bowl of chicken thigh pho with eggs. If the owner says anything unusual, just ignore it. The pho noodles are soft, the pho broth smells of chicken, and the meat is just right.
At noon, it's time to eat Phu My stir-fried pho in Bat Dan. This row is next to the pho queue mentioned above. The stir-fried pho here is unique because of the thick, greasy and fragrant sauce. Those who are afraid of being fat, afraid of fatty blood, afraid of losing their waist or shape, please don't come here.
At 1:00 p.m., the weather was hot, so I walked up to West Lake to eat at the rib pho restaurant on Thuy Khue Street, opposite Chu Van An school gate. This restaurant's pho is truly a descendant of the Co Nam Dinh family with large Thai pho noodles and broth seasoned with fish sauce.
From 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., you should eat pho as a cooling snack. You can choose pho rolls, fried pho in Ngu Xa or mixed pho in Lan Ong, sour pho in Hoang Hoa Tham. From 5:00 p.m., return to Phan Chu Trinh - Lo Duc intersection to eat Thin rare pho or Thin Bo Ho pho, establishment No. 1 Le Van Huu.
At about 6:00 p.m., 3 sisters of Pho Bien restaurant also in Le Van Huu turned on the lights for the evening shift. When eating here, you should order a bowl of wine and tendon sauce to satisfy your taste buds. Go a little further towards Ngo Thi Nham and you will see Pho Cao restaurant, which quietly only serves regular customers, or Mai Anh chicken pho restaurant, which often has many Japanese customers.
At 7 p.m., the pedestrian street lights up. Let's join the busy crowd of people coming to Trung Yen alley to eat Pho Suong. If you're still not happy after eating, invite me to walk to Hang Giay to eat Pho Vui. After finishing Pho Vui and still not being happy, the restaurant owner gave up and changed it to Pho Sau from tomorrow.
At 8 p.m., we went back to Ngo Tram Lane to eat Pho Count. It's not that the pho shop is Count, but because the owner has the habit of counting each piece of meat put into the bowl like Mrs. Nghi Que counting the pot of braised pork sausage before handing it to Ti in the novel Turn Off the Lights by Ngo Tat To. Anyway, the pho with wine sauce here is also very delicious.
At 9:00 p.m., you should stop by Tu Lun Pho in Hai Ba Trung because at this time the restaurant is usually empty and the service is more attentive. At 10 p.m., return to the old town to Hang Buom to eat pho stir-fried with Thai Beo beef corn. Unlike Phu My stir-fried pho, which is soft and succulent, Hang Buom stir-fried pho is firm and dry, crunchy and crunchy like a snack.
Around 11 p.m., if you want to eat pho to make sure you can continue to live with the Hanoi night, eat stir-fried pho with beef or oval heart from Mrs. Dam at 39 Hang Dau. Mrs. Dam did not count, but just scooped the spoon to know if the meat was enough or not, then handed it to the shirtless men to stir-fry on an industrial gas stove.
At midnight, the rooster crows and there are still many options. Either pho Mam at the intersection of Hang Can - Hang Hom or pho re-roll at the intersection of Hang Bac. At 1am, I really need a place to sit and sip. So Pho Nguyet in Phu Doan seems to have been included in the third Michelin list.
At 2:00 a.m., pho pho people flock to Pho Duong Tau on Tran Phu Street to make a bowl of bare corn and a bowl of cooked pho. In the old year's night train, the noodle soups were occasionally interrupted by trains returning to the station. The train windows frame tired but bright-eyed faces looking towards Duong Tau pho restaurant.
From 3:00 a.m., Hang Duong pho with wine sauce operates. The pho is delicious, the price is not too expensive, the people exchanging whispers are very strange, the atmosphere is quiet, airy, very suitable for making a bowl of wine sauce while admiring the beauty of the old town at leisure and quiet. After eating, when I returned home, the hostess wished me a good night.
But how can I sleep? At 4 o'clock I still have to go to Long Bien market to eat pho in the bustling atmosphere of Hanoi's largest fruit and vegetable wholesaler. At 5 a.m., the pho restaurants are already on fire. If you have any lingering feelings, then run out to Pho Thin Bo Ho, eat a bowl of pho at the beginning of the day, and watch the surface of Hoan Kiem Lake, avoiding the mist.
Hey, where and when do you want to eat pho? Hanoi please indulge me, because in Hanoi, pho is the best!
