Dish of the day · Dishle #29 answer · July 10, 2026

What Is Pho? Vietnam's Slow-Simmered Noodle Soup

Pho is a Vietnamese noodle soup made from flat rice noodles and thin slices of beef or chicken, served in a long-simmered, aromatic broth. Its name is a small mystery that food lovers enjoy arguing about: some trace “phở” to the French pot-au-feu, hearing “feu” in the word, while others point to Cantonese roots and a word for noodles. The dish is unmistakably Vietnamese, born in the north and now eaten worldwide: for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or a steaming late-night bowl.

A short history

Pho is widely thought to have taken shape in northern Vietnam in the early 20th century, around Hanoi and the nearby Nam Dinh province. Beyond that, the details stay up for friendly debate. The pot-au-feu theory ties pho to French colonial kitchens and their love of slow beef broth; the Cantonese theory links it to Chinese noodle sellers who worked the same streets. After Vietnam was divided in 1954, many northerners moved south, and a sweeter style, piled with fresh herbs and sprouts, took root around Saigon. Decades later, Vietnamese families carried the dish across the world, opening shops from Paris to California, where both the northern and southern styles now have proud, hungry fans.

What’s in it?

The broth is everything. Cooks char onion and ginger over an open flame, then simmer them with beef bones (and usually star anise, cinnamon, cloves, and coriander seed) for six to ten hours, until the liquid turns deep, clear, and fragrant. Flat rice noodles, called banh pho, go into the bowl first. On top go thin slices of raw beef that cook in the scalding broth, or poached chicken for the version known as pho ga. A side plate of herbs, bean sprouts, lime wedges, and sliced chiles almost always comes along.

How do you eat it?

Pho is meant to be finished at the table, so the bowl arrives plain and hot and you make it yours. Tear in Thai basil, drop a handful of bean sprouts, squeeze a lime, and add chiles, or, in the southern style, a dab of hoisin and sriracha. Use chopsticks for the noodles and a spoon for the broth, switching between the two with each bite. Slurping is welcome; it cools the noodles and shows you mean it. In Vietnam, pho is classic breakfast food, sold at dawn from street stalls, though plenty of people happily eat it any hour.

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