PHO

This is traditional breakfast of  Vietnamese. It was made from beef and some vegetable made special tasty….

PHO (Vietnamese pronunciation: [fəởː] ) is a Vietnamese noodle soup, usually served with beef  or chicken. The soup includes noodles made from rice and is often served with Thai basil, lime, bean sprouts that are added to the soup by the diner.

PHO is served in a bowl with a specific cut of white rice noodles (called bánh phở’) in clear beef broth, with slim cuts of beef (steak, fatty flank, lean flank, brisket). Variations feature tendon, tripe, meatballs, chicken leg, chicken breast, or other chicken organs. “With the lot” (made with all or most of the shop’s chicken and cattle offerings, including chicken hearts and livers and beef tripe and tendons) is known as PHO đặc biệt (“specialty PHO”)

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Rice in Vietnam

Rice is an integral part of life in Vietnam. Vietnam is an agricultural country with eight out of ten Vietnamese living in rural areas and making their living by growing rice. Many Vietnamese people say their country looks like two rice baskets placed at two ends of a pole. 

Rice is a staple food for half the world’s population and its cultivation is dated back some 7,000 years ago in Southeast Asia. It is a symbol and also part of ceremonies and offerings. It’s one of the most important food crops in the world and an important part of Asian culture.

There are thousands of rice varieties. Rice is a cereal grain related to oats, rye and wheat. It comes in white, brown, red, black or amber. Its grains can be either short or long, and thick or thin. Rice mainly grows in flooded fields (it needs a constant supply of water) and is called lowland rice. In countries where there is plenty of rainfall, rice may be raised on hills and is called upland rice.

Lowland rice, known as wet rice, is the most common species in Southeast Asia which can be planted in two or three crops a year. Seedlings are raised in nursery beds and transplanted after 25-50 days to flooded fields surrounded by soil-raised border. The paddy stem is submerged in two to six inches of water and the seedlings placed in rows approximately a foot apart.

When the leaves of the rice stalks start to turn yellow the paddies are drained and dried in preparation for the harvest. Vietnamese farmers reap rice by using sickles to cut the stalks. Then they tie the stalks together and dry them.

Threshing separates the grain from the rest of the plant. Sometimes it is done mechanically and sometimes people or animals trample the sheaves. After threshing the rice is ready for milling. If the rice is not completely dry it is often spread out on communal yards or highways to dry in the sun. Rice dryers are widely usued in some regions now. Milling removes the husk from the kernel. Sometimes the process also strips off the bran layer which contains most of the nutrients. Brown rice still has its bran coat.

Nothing is wasted in rice processing. It can be turned into everything from paper to pudding. It’s steamed, puffed and flaked. It can be used to make noodles, wine, cosmetics and cooking oil. While the kernels are eaten, the stalks are made into straw and used for making sandals, hats, baskets, ropes, brooms and thatched roofs. The hulls provide fuel and fertilizer.

Despite destruction caused by natural disasters, rice production keeps increasing in Vietnam over the last 14 years, with bumper harvests recorded year-on-year.

Vietnam's major breakthrough in agriculture came in 1989 when the country had a record output of 18.9 million tonnes of food in term of paddy while annual production could not exceed 17 million tonnes in the 1981-1985period.

The country's agriculture, especially rice production, saw a strong and fast growth in the 1990-1999 period. From a country facing chronical food shortage, Vietnam has over the past 11 years become the world's second largest rice exporter after ensuring adequate supply for domestic consumption. Rural people's life has constantly improved. The fragrance of Vietnamese rice has actually spread across kitchens of many homes in foreign countries.

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Overview

Vegetables and fruits

Much of Vietnam is lush and fertile due to an extensive river system, which includes the Red River Delta and the Mekong Delta. This makes it ideal for growing a wide range of vegetables and fruits, which are eaten in abundance.

Commonly eaten vegetables include cabbage, garlic, scallions (spring onions), carrots, bell peppers (capsicum), chilis, tomatoes, bamboo shoots, lettuce, cucumbers, celery and mushrooms. These vegetables are simmered in soups and served with noodles, added to stir-fries and curries, wrapped in rice paper, or served as a side dish or salad.

Popular fruit include mangoes, pineapples, melons, lychees and mandarins which are eaten as a snack or sweet accompaniment to food, or added to savory dishes to impart a contrasting sweet flavor.

Legumes, nuts and seeds

Legumes (beans, peas and lentils) are commonly eaten throughout Vietnam. Bean curd (tofu), which is made from soy beans is used in many traditional dishes. Bean sprouts and snow peas are also a popular addition to food.

Peanuts are ground down into a paste and added to braises, soups and noodle dishes, or crushed and sprinkled over foods at the end of the cooking process to add texture.

Sesame seeds are used to make fragrant sesame oil (which is added in small amounts to food as a flavor enhancer) and are also sprinkled whole over foods after cooking. 

Fish and seafood

Vietnam borders the ocean, and also has an extensive river system, so fish and shellfish are a staple part of the traditional Vietnamese diet. Shrimp, crab, squid, mussels and countless varieties of fish are eaten.

Fish and shellfish are enjoyed in noodle soups, stir-fries, rice dishes, coconut milk curries, baked and grilled dishes or wrapped in rice paper rolls.  

Meat and poultry

Meat such as beef has traditionally been eaten sparingly throughout Vietnam. Pork is more popular, but it is still eaten in moderation. When meat is used, a little goes a long way, such as in the popular Vietnamese beef and rice noodle soup Pho bo, which uses paper thin slices of beef.

Poultry such as chicken is eaten regularly and is enjoyed hot or shredded cold in salads. Eggs are typically enjoyed in moderation. 

Herbs and Seasonings

Soy sauce is used in northern Vietnamese cooking (northern Vietnam borders China), but is rarely used in the central and southern parts of Vietnam where fish sauce (nouc mam) is the most important flavoring ingredient. Fish sauce is made from fermented fish and is used as a flavoring ingredient in a wide range of dishes and is also used to make condiments and dipping sauces such as nuoc cham.

Fresh herbs are another essential part of Vietnamese cooking, and are chopped or simply torn and typically added to food after cooking to add a rich fragrant flavor. The most widely used herbs include cilantro (coriander), mint and basil.

Chilis and black pepper are used to add heat and flavor to dishes. Sometimes thinly sliced fresh chili will be used as an edible garnish. Other important flavoring ingredients in Vietnamese cooking include garlic, lemongrass, ginger, vinegar, five spice powder, hoisin sauce and the juice from lemons and limes.

Rice and noodles

Like most Asian cuisines, grain-foods feature prominently in Vietnamese cooking. Rice is the most popular grain, and is eaten as an accompaniment to food, or ground into rice flour to make noodles and rice paper. Rice noodles—as well as noodles made from wheat and bean starch—are highly popular throughout Vietnam, and it's not uncommon for people to have more than one noodle dish a day. Rice paper is used to make rice paper rolls, which are served with dipping sauce.

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Vietnam Food Culture

Because Vietnam is a typical wet rice country, rice is strongly worshipped here. Visitors to Vietnam will surely maze with the number of dishes made from rice: steamed rice (com) in daily meals, glutinous rice cake (square cake or banh chung), rice noodle, rice vermicelli, steamed rice pancakes (banh cuon) and many other ones. A common fish sauce bowl is also a very interesting image that can be seen in almost every meal of Vietnam people, representing Vietnamese solidarity. Two above are just some of many fascinating features of Vietnam food culture. It can be sure that discovering Vietnam food culture lets guests know much about people in this small beautiful country.

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