Last month, Christina walked us through the steps of how she downs a bowl of pho. Now Bill is revealing the secrets behind what makes each bowl of pho in Chinatown so special, one at a time. Do you notice something missing? I didn’t at first, but now I realize that we had left out a very important aspect of pho – ordering.
In today’s post, I will attempt to clarify and simplify the ordering process to help those of you who are new to pho – or even those veterans who still find themselves confused by the clutter of never ending choices – create a perfect bowl for yourself!
Pho, essentially, is made up of two very basic ingredients: the broth, and the pho noodle (pho is the name of the noodle as well as the dish). Restaurants often garnish the broth with chopped scallions, onions, and coriander. This is what you get when you order plain pho (pho khong). Every bowl of pho is accompanied by a plate of veggies, which often includes lime or lemon, basils bean sprouts, green chili, and culantro.
different vegs and herbs that accompany pho, as shown on the menus of Pho Hoa restaurants
A full-blown pho menu will give you up to 15-20 different combinations of pho. These combinations differ based on the cuts of beef you prefer. There are 8 different cuts, as described in the table below.
| English Name | Vietnamese | Description | Texture | Taste | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beef | Beef Balls | Bo Vien | round, firm meat balls | soft and chewy | savoury |
| Brisket | Chin Nac | well-done thin slices of beef | chewy, roast beef-like | natural, unseasoned | |
| Flank | Nam | melt-in-your-mouth thin slices that literally disintegrate upon being touched with chopsticks | soft, juicy | natural, unseasoned | |
| Crunchy Flank | Ve Don | a firmer part of the flank | soft, chewy, crunchy | natural, unseasoned | |
| Fatty Flank | Gau | flank with extra fat | very soft and tender | natural, unseasoned | |
| Steak | Tai | (red) rare slices of beef | tender and juicy | natural, unseasoned | |
| Tendon | Gan | chunks of beige to brownish tendons | can be tough, gelatin-like | natural, unseasoned | |
| Tripe | Sach | tangled strips of white, rubbery looking thing.. | chewy, rubbery, like calamari | neutral | |
| Veggies | |||||
| Bean Sprouts | Gia | long, round and white sprouts of mung bean | crispy, crunchy | mild, "plain" | |
| Chili | Ot | thin slices of green chilies, or whole of smaller green or red chillies | crunchy | spicy | |
| Coriander/ Cilantro | Ngo | chopped up green leaves in the broth | soft leafy texture | tangy, citrusy | |
| Culantro/ Long Coriander | Ngo Gai | big, long green leaves that come with the side plate | firmer leafy texture | similar to coriander | |
| Lemon/Lime | Chanh | yellow or green wedges that come with the side plate | sour, tangy | ||
| Onions | Cu Hanh | white strips of onions that sometimes come with the broth | crunchy, but soft | hints of sweetness and spiciness | |
| Scallions | Hanh | chopped up chucks of green stems of scallions | a little bit slimy | almost like onions, but much lighter | |
| Basils | Que | full stem with many green leaves that come with the side plate | leafy | a bit minty | |
| Condiments | |||||
| Hoisin Sauce | Tuong An Pho | a brown sauce one could add to their bowl | texture is not detected once stirred in broth | a bit more sweet than salty | |
| Hot Sauce | Tuong Ot | a red sauce one could add to their bowl | texture is not detected once stirred in broth | a spicy sauce |
eight types of beef parts, as shown on the menus of Pho Hoa restaurants
A typical combination includes rare beef slices (steak) and beef balls, while the ultimate bowl of pho includes all of the ingredients, known as pho dac biet, or “Special Pho”.
Although these 8 cuts of beef can combine to create more than 40,000 different combinations!, most menus only list up to 20, to save you the headaches. If your ideal combination of pho isn’t on the menu, you could ask (depending on the restaurant) the server to customize your bowl for you.
I hope this addresses some of your concerns and confusions. Feel free to post questions if you are still unsure.
Similarly, I will post an article explaining the different choices of vermicelli and rice combinations in the upcoming weeks.
Would love to be added to the list too!
Over 40 thousands??? seriously??
Thanks for this article!
Great Article
I’ve never realized how little I actually knew about a dish I’ve consumed countless amounts of. Customizing my pho sounds great if I were a more decisive being…
[...] the representatives of Vietnamese cuisine outside of Vietnam. As discussed in previous articles (pho, rice, vermicelli), these 3 dishes can be customized based on your taste. mouth watering [...]