Journalist Park Jeong Bae had the opportunity to visit Hanoi to learn about the unique culinary features here, the most prominent of which is pho. He recommends pho restaurants for Korean tourists to try when visiting Hanoi.

Park Jeong Bae writes: "Vietnamese people often start their morning with pho, so there are many pho restaurants open early in the morning to serve them."

Pho Cu Chieu

Pho Cu Chieu comes from Van Cu village, Nam Dinh. This is a pho restaurant that is hundreds of years old, established in the 1930s, and has gone through 4 generations.

"Instead of adding spices such as star anise, cinnamon, cardamom like in other restaurants, they only make broth from bones and beef to ensure the original flavor.

The restaurant also doesn't put lemon on the table as a seasoning. The blend of broth, noodles, meat and vegetables is wonderful" - journalist Park Jeong Bae of Chosun newspaper shared his feelings.

Pho Cu Chieu opens from 5am to 11pm, located at 48 Hang Dong Street, Hang Bo Ward, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi.

Pho 10 Ly Quoc Su

Journalist Park Jeong Bae said this is one of the most famous pho restaurants in Hanoi with the advantage of a beautiful space and spacious seating.

"The broth is made from beef bones and has a sweet taste. The noodles are as thick as Korean medium-sized noodles. You can add herbs to the bowl of pho to enhance the flavor and make the bowl of pho look more attractive" - ​​Park Jeong Bae described.

Pho Thin

The next address that Chosun newspaper introduced is Pho Thin restaurant located at 13 Lo Duc street, Pham Dinh Ho ward, Hai Ba Trung district. The restaurant opens from about 5am to 9pm.

In a corner of the kitchen, a menu board with the founder's face and the words "Pho Thin 1979" (meaning the pho restaurant has been around since 1979) is hung solemnly.

A bowl of pho here costs about 70,000 VND. Journalist Park Jeong Bae said that the restaurant's prices are higher than average.

According to him, the taste of Pho Thin is similar to the beef soup of Hadongkwan restaurant, a famous traditional restaurant in Seoul:

"The broth is rich, creamy, and sweet. It's a taste that Koreans will love."

Pho Bat Dan

In Chosun , Park Jeong Bae described the taste of Pho Bat Dan as sweet and clear. The noodles are thin and the meat is tender. Like Pho Cu Chieu, the restaurant's seasoning list does not include lemon, to preserve the original flavor of the pho.

"This is a place where there is a long line of people lining up since morning. When I entered, I saw the owner skillfully slicing the meat" - a Korean journalist recounted his experience at Pho Bat Dan.

Where did pho originate?

According to Park Jeong Bae, the document that directly mentions this dish is the Vietnamese Dictionary, along with the explanation: "Pho is a dish made from pho noodles and thinly sliced ​​beef. There are two popular types of pho: rare beef pho and stir-fried pho."

Pho is believed to have existed in the early 20th century, the homeland of pho is in Nam Dinh province:

"The people of Van Cu village, Nam Dinh made and sold a dish that can be considered the origin of today's pho. The dish has basic ingredients such as: beef bone broth, pho noodles, herbs and beef.

Pho became popular and was favored by the majority of workers in the big cities of Northern Vietnam.

In particular, pho is sold in large quantities in Hanoi, and gradually asserts itself as an indispensable culinary culture of the capital of Vietnam.

Even more honorable is that Nam Dinh pho and Hanoi pho have just been recognized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as national intangible cultural heritage.

And we can clearly see that the reputation of Vietnamese Pho is increasingly being raised and spread widely. This dish will always be a proud culinary feature and will attract the attention of many foreign tourists when coming to Vietnam.