Pho have always been my favorite noodle soup of all time. I normally have it at least once a week and it is super good after a night out drinking or when it’s raining/cold.
Beef Pho (Pho Bo)
The dish is usually served with beef or chicken. The soup includes noodles made from rice and is often served with mint leaves, green onions, white onions, Thai basil , lime wedges, bean sprouts and cilantro (ngò gai). Hoisin sauce and chili sauce may be added to taste as accompaniments.
The broth for beef pho is generally made by simmering beef bones, oxtails, flank steak, charred onion, charred ginger and spices. Seasonings can include Saigon cinnamon or other kinds of cinnamon as alternatives (may use stick or powder), star anise, roasted ginger, roasted onion, black cardamom, coriander seed, fennel seed, and clove. The broth takes several hours to make. For chicken pho, only the meat and bones of the chicken are used in place of beef and beef bone.
The dish is associated with the city of Hanoi, where the first pho restaurant opened in the 1920s. The earliest reference to phở in English was in the book Recipes of All Nations, edited by Countess Morphy in 1935. In the book, phở is described as “an Annamese soup held in high esteem … made with beef, a veal bone, onions, a bayleaf, salt, and pepper, and a small teaspoon of nuoc-mam.”
Want to know where some good places to try Pho in Philly? (The best part is you can be full for under $10 bucks)
Chicken Pho (Pho Ga)
Here are my top 3 choices:
Pho Ha Saigon
320 W Oregon Ave
Philadelphia, PA 19148
(215) 389-1002
Pho Hoa Restaurant
1111 South 11th Street
Philadelphia
(215) 755-4000
Pho Saigon Philly
1100 South Christopher Columbus Boulevard #22
Philadelphia
(267) 773-7305
