Village pho recipes big hit in the city

The Ngoc Vuong chain is among the most famous traditional pho restaurants in the capital.

LookAtVietnam - Although dealing with her own hectic work day, the time it takes for Lai Hien Minh to search for a seat in the crowded Pho Lanh shop on Nui Truc Street during the lunch rush does nothing to convince her to leave for another restaurant with fewer customers. 

Pho - the calling card for Vietnamese

"To have a hot bowl of good quality pho (beef noodle soup) like this, squeezing into this shop is not a problem for me. Traditional pho bo Nam Dinh (noodle soup, a speciality of Nam Dinh Province) has been my favourite ever since it became a familiar trademark to gastronomes in Ha Noi nearly 10 years ago," she says. 

It seems that Vu Minh Lanh, the restaurant owner, has not had a day to relax in the entire 15 years his shop has been open. It has been crowded with customers ever since the doors opened in 1995.

"Although the dish originated in our village it was unable to fully develop there because the people had very low incomes; there wasn't a high demand for this type of food, which was relatively expensive. Consequently, many of us have had to set up businesses outside of our homeland," says Lanh.

Although Ha Noi has long been famous for a variety of pho trademarks, such as Pho Thin, Pho Bat Dan and Pho Ly Quoc Su, traditional pho Nam Dinh has managed to successfully gain a significant foothold in the capital. 

Nowadays, Ha Noi is overwhelmed with numerous pho bo Nam Dinh shops, some of which are throughout in all the city such as the Ngoc Vuong chain, the Pho Lanh shop on Nui Truc Street and Co Dang shop on Hoang Quoc Viet Street. It was young people from the current generation who made the food so popular that these days it can be found on virtually every street corner in Ha Noi. 

With the unique flavor and good servings, many traditional pho Nam Dinh restaurants have won favor in Ha Noi

According to many elders in Nam Dinh, there is no specific evidence of where this world famous Vietnamese dish was born. However, it has been established that Co Huu Vang was the first villager from the province to introduce an ambulatory noodle soup concession stand to Ha Noi in the 1930s.

One of the village elders, 80 year old Phan Dang, sold pho on Hang Trong Street in 1942 but then returned to Nam Dinh, only to return to the capital in 1953 to open a noodle soup shop on Lan Ong Street. Now his family owns four shops and two rice noodle houses.

Another elder, Co Hung, set the record of selling 3,000 bowls of rice noodle per day in the 1960s. His family owned five noodle houses called Pho Hung in different locations around Ha Noi. 

Soup makers have managed to hang on to the food making secrets that were passed down from previous generations. However, they have also altered the traditional recipes to suit eaters' tastes in different areas. 

In the past, rice noodle with well-done or half-done beef was the most popular, but changes have been made to meet current diner demands. New noodle soup varieties include pho ga (with chicken), fried beef and simple fried noodles.

The image of numerous ambulatory noodle soup concession stand staking out street corners has begun to disappear over the years. Now, many noodle soup shops and restaurants, both small and large, have sprouted up like mushrooms.

The high demand for this speciality among big city patrons combined with the economic benefits of having access to more customers have attracted a lot of Van Cu and Giao Cu villagers to make the move. 

Pho bo Nam Dinh has become familiar to gastronomers in Ha Noi for nearly 10 years.

Lanh's fellow-countryman Vu Ngoc Vuong has his own strong attachments to this trade, which was handed down to him from two previous generations. The success and reputation of his family's cuisine helped him to develop a series of three restaurants in Ha Noi and one in HCM City.

Ngoc Vuong restaurants welcome large numbers of customers everyday. Although they are open all day, the restaurants are the most crowded in the morning. Each one typically sells more than 1,000 bowls of noodle soup per day. continued>>

Arabs fascinated by Vietnamese cuisine

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has hosted an Asia Culinary Fair, at which guests and diplomats from many countries had the chance to enjoy Vietnamese food. After the opening of the fair, hundreds of visitors, including local people and foreign ambassadors, called on the Vietnamese stand and tasted the food. They especially favoured such dishes as chicken and beef noodle soup (pho), spring rolls, and pickled vegetable. The fair, which took placed in the capital city of Abu Dhabi on March 13, was attended by the embassies of Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei, China, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nepal, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. more>>

Building a Global Pho-nomenon

Originally reported at the Asia Society of New York

Building a Global Pho-nomenon

Having opened 68 restaurants in 6 Asian countries in 5 years, Dr. Ly Qui Trung's Pho24 chain is turning the Vietnamese street dish pho into a major global brand. Speaking at Asia Society's New York City headquarters last week, Trung discussed his success in a wide-ranging talk that touched on entrepreneurship, intellectual property rights, and the growing Vietnamese economy.

Watch the Video on Demand

Lunch at the Pho Binh Café

There are way too many things to see in Saigon, and heaven knows if I'll ever get to see them all. This particular pho shop was in my guidebook, and the two or three sentences that followed the name had me completely smitten.  This was just a place we had to see. Chuck as usual, was all atwitter about what kind of place is this, and who goes there, and what not. 

We took a cab there, since I had no clue where it was, and since it wasn't within District One, I didn't want to waste time getting there. And so this is what we saw when we arrived at destination. 

Motorbikes are always parked either on the sidewalk, or inside the shops. Actually, at the Indochine Hotel, they had 3 of them parked in the reception area. It was not very crowded inside, but the entire area around the restaurant was bustling. Chuck was definitely antsy, but I got a bit closer to check the noodle stand outside the premises. After our second trip to Vietnam, it was a foregone conclusion that you cannot have a bad bowl of pho, no matter where you eat it. 

Now doesn't that look yummy? If you don't know it, pho noodles are rice based, therefore much lighter than wheat based noodles and very easily digested. Vietnamese have pho any time of the day, including breakfast. We did go inside, and I wanted to insure that we had found the right place.

The man who owned this pho shop played host to both American soldiers and Viet Cong during the American War, and his son has amassed quite a collection of pictures and citations in the name of his father. As we were the only Westerners in the shop, a tall man came toward us and for lack of understanding each other, I showed him the guide book, and he immediately understood what I meant. He showed us to a table, and returned with many albums. 

There was obviously tremendous pride in what Ngo Toai had done during the war, and his pho shop rose to prominence, but he absolutely refused to give his tables and chairs and any of his war memorabilia to the War Museum. The restaurant floors beg for a good scrubbing, but it is with reverence that one enters the premises.

these tables and chairs are witnesses to the men who fought

during the war and came here for a bowl of pho

Here we are below, completely captivated with reading and looking and pictures, while enjoying the best bowl of pho ever, and I squeezed as much lime as I could find into it. 

If you look at the picture on the right, above are two framed certificates. I was able to capture on camera a close up of the larger one, and the other one has a photo of Ngo Toai with American soldiers eating in his soup kitchen. Many wrote him letters after they went back home. The newspaper clippings are stained and in some disrepair, but they are a greater source of pride as they are written in English.

  There are certificates on the wall bearing the red communist star; medals are photographed but now shown.  When the war ended, Ngo Toai returned to his beloved noodle shop and continued to serve his magical brew. It seems the menu has not changed much since that day. Heartwarming are the photos of U.S. veterans who returned to this shop, and have their arms around the old man. 

 

how priceless is this? 

The Reuters article above provocatively begins this way: “ In the early years of the Viet Nam war, Ngo Toai lived a double life: seller of noodles to U.S. personnel and surreptitious revolutionary”. And of course, you read on. Apparently, a few days following the Tet offensive, a South Vietnamese tried to kill Ngo Toai, but somehow he escaped death only to find life imprisonment and torture instead.

 

the circled area of the page talks about the liberation of Toai

As you can read, Toai was captured and tortured; our guide to the Mekong Delta would later inform us that many people were sent for "re-education". I leave it to your imagination to figure this out.

The shop served as a front for the undercover command post from which the plan for the Tet offensive was devised. After the war, foreign tourists would pay up to $13/night to put their heads on a pillow in the very area that served as a gathering place for the Viet Cong. I regret that we didn't decide to do likewise, but we had quite an itinerary on this first trip, which had been set back somewhat due to an unexpected food poisoning episode.

All things aside, this café does serve a wicked pho. They also have "bia", which is the Vietnamese word for "beer" , which actually came from the French word "bière". 

the view from inside the restaurant

you can see the parked motorbikes inside

These are a few of my favorite things

These are the ones that I didn't' have to go far to find, but there are others. With two trips to Viet Nam, and time in between in New York to find things I enjoyed there, - most are in the form of food or drink-, others stuff will pop up.

Silk embroidery is one of the specialty handcrafts of the country, and there are two major centers: the first is in Da Lat and the second is in Nah Trang; we were very lucky to find the one in Nah Trang, because we simply were not looking for it. We had been having lunch seaside, and my eye had caught a huge sign that said something about women's crafts. Ironically, no one at the restaurant knew what it was, or perhaps they did not know what I was asking. Curiosity always wins, and so glad it did. The embroidery here is that of a stereotypical Viet Namese with his conical hat, his merchandise and his wheels, without which he probably could not make a living.

I picked that up in Ha Noi actually, not far from Hoan Kiem Lake. You find them everywhere, in little shops, and after a few visits, you begin to know your prices. There are very few which are just black and white, like this one. Most are extremely colorful, and naturally, I have those as well. (See the set of small embroideries top left) They become all the more precious when you have watched the women at work over these huge projects, sometimes, 3 or 4 people are working on one design. I will take you to the art center in another post.

As far back as I can remember, I was always a shawl girl. (woman). That included ponchos, that were hand embroidered, and at one time, my mother-in-law was turning them out faster than I could wear them. I could never understand why every woman in America didn't own at least 10 different shawls. The poncho to the left, for lack of a better word, was purchased in Sa Pa, in the north of Viet Nam. Sa Pa is a mountain resort which was built by the French during the nineteenth century, and if and when you go there, you will think you may have landed somewhere in the Alps. What I loved about this design was the harmony of colors, and the fact that it was reversible.

I had not seen anything like it in Ha Noi. It may not get that cool in Ha Noi, but in Sa Pa, in the evening, this can come in very handy. After all, you are sharing space with Fan Si Pan, the highest peak of the Tonkinese Alps. There are other types of shawls which are just about everywhere. The one I hold very dear was a gift from Van, which I mentioned in another post. She had given it to me when we had lunch at Madame Ann Thuyet Pham. It's a very fine and soft wool, almost cashmere like, and the embroidery is so exquisite, and the color combination of the flowers and petals is nothing short of stunning. Whenever and wherever I have worn it, people have stopped to ask me about it.

Here's another beauty which is a combination cotton/silk and perhaps one other fiber, but I'm not sure. A Ha Noi purchase, and amazingly, when you get back home, you find that it can be worn with a number of pieces of clothing you never remembered you had. Mind you, none of these treasures of mine cost a fortune, but they are treasures nevertheless. Their uniqueness sets them apart from anything else I own.

I am also a costume jewelry fanatic; and for a few years now, silver has been more fashionable than gold, so I was definitely in the right place. For earrings, most of the ones that attracted me were hoops of sorts; interestingly, there were no separate parts, like a post for pierced ears. The earring had a self-closing mechanism which just made life a whole lot easier.

The hoop with the multi-colored metal pieces is the most popular in Sa Pa. Everyone wears them, from the little girls who would be chasing after us (another fabulous story coming), to the older women. But then again, everything they wear is multi-colored, because of the "montagnard" sense of fashion which is somewhat the same as the tribal people we encountered in the North of Thailand. The other silver hoop is less ornate, and I didn't like the way the silver bent itself after using the earring a few times. Lastly, there was a bronze hammered metal hoop that was irresistible. At this time, I will admit that I have lost one of each, but I refuse to let go of the mate.

This necklace would have made Cleopatra jealous. Again, it is worn mainly by the mountain women of Sa Pa, and I bought this during the famous Saturday market, where people from all over the region come and make purchases of just about everything, including foods, fowl, fruit and natural dyes like indigo. There are also things like hooves, and pigs feet for sale. The market is colorful, and a wonderful smell of mountain air mixes with incense and the laughter of children.

The pillow covers you see are again typical of the geometric design and color combination of the north. Ironically, I purchased these in a shop in Ha Noi, before I had ever set eyes in Sa Pa. When I returned, I found more pillow covers, but with different designs and color combinations. Indigo had become prominent. The pillows are set on a love seat in my office, which I purchased when I moved into my new apartment in Bayside in 2004. I never bothered to look at the manufacture, since I assume most everything now is made in China. However, one day, as I got behind the loveseat to find a plug, I looked at the tag, and was shocked! The sofa was made in Viet Nam!

I am a fragrance nut as well. This is deep rooted however, and began with my working for a fragrance manufacturer in my early twenties. They ruined me for life, in that I would change fragrance almost as often as I would my underwear. It had become unthinkable to wear the same fragrance every day.
Some aspects of that habit have not changed, and perfume and colognes are not cheap state side, especially with my taste. Though the bottle of finished, I managed to find Kenzo's Flower perfume which sells for $63 on the internet, for a fraction of the price. I also helped myself to 2 bottles of Burberry for women which you see to the left, and 2 bottles of Hugo Boss. Sai Gon has much more variety than Ha Noi, for some reason, and that is where I will head again the next time. You can also find your favorite perfumed lotions, men's after shaves, make up, - everything you need below duty free prices.

The lacquered sandals you see here are as stunning as they look. They have about a one inch heel and I wore them once, on the Emeraude cruise, at a special dinner. Oddly enough, I had an evening dress to match. These were picked up at the Ben Thanh market in Sai Gon which is an adventure in itself. The day you go there, make sure you have no appointments to keep.

I will try to end this with two important food types which entered my vocabulary since 2005 and never left. One is pho, which is broth with noodles and the other is Ca phe sua (coffee is too simple for this beverage). Of course, one can always go to a Viet Namese restaurant just about anywhere in New York and get both of these items, ready made and served. But, there is something very rewarding when you are home, and decide you are going to make pho, and you get out the biggest pot you can find and go at it. Without the little magic cubes which I found at the Viet Namese market, it wouldn't be pho. Of course, you need rice noodles, of which you will find an astounding variety, lime to taste, but I usually slice a lime and throw it in the broth because I'm a maniac for lime. You can add fish, like prawns, or fish balls which are only available at Asian vendors. Some like beef or chicken, but if you're going that route, why bother? The fish is tastier and healthier. It's the simplest dish of all, and the most rewarding.

By nature, I'm not a coffee drinker. I was weaned on black tea since I was a child, and that's just the way it stayed. From time to time, I will have a latté or a cappuccino, but that's the extent of it. All of that changed in Viet Nam. The coffee there is a remnant of the French influence of café au lait, and they have managed to do something to it by adding sweet condensed milk, and serving hot or cold. The coffee comes with a gizmo that filters it; it's hard to describe, but I have photos for later posts. Making a long story short, it's available here in packets and all you need to do is add hot water.
If you wish to have an iced coffee, then make the hot water anyway, mix your coffee with about 1/3 of a tall glass, and then a fill the rest of the glass with ice cubes. And presto. Starbucks will never make it in Viet Nam, because they just don't need it there.