Pho Trang Kiem - Ha Giang
Trang Kiem is a small village on the Lo River in Dong Ha commune, Quan Ba district, on Hanh Phuc road connecting from the city center to Meo Vac district, Ha Giang province. This village is famous for the traditional "hong gio" pho, also known as Trang Kim pho. Nothing compares to a bowl of Trang Kiem pho in the midst of the bitter cold, when the early mist is still hovering in the middle of Quan Ba heaven and earth.
Since ancient times, people here have used ingredients created from their homeland to make pho dishes with bold local imprints. They use rice grown on the rice to make pho cakes, cardamom, cinnamon, and star anise in the forest as flavorings, and use chickens and pigs raised by themselves as meat and broth. As a result, the pho is fragrant and naturally sweet, leaving memories on the tip of the tongue for many guests from far away and becoming a famous specialty of Ha Giang.
Unlike downstream pho, in Trang Kim, people use freshly coated pho cakes by hand. Use a ladle to scoop the pureed rice flour evenly on a cloth stretched across the pot of water, wait for it to cook, then use a large round stick to remove the pho cake from the steamer, dry it on the bamboo trees squeezed across the rafters to dry naturally. This stage is also jokingly called "hong gio" pho, so the name "hong gio" pho was born.
Each piece of soft white pho cake dried in the sun exudes the aroma of new rice. Wait for the pho cake to dry before taking it down, roll it up and finely chop it by hand into noodles, soft but not broken but still sticky.
The pot of fragrant broth is simmered from chicken bones and pork tube bones with ginger, turmeric, cardamom, cinnamon, anise, emitting smoke. Blanch the cooked noodles in hot water, then quickly strain the succulent chicken that has just been boiled and add it to the bowl, sprinkle a little finely chopped onion on top, and fill a ladle of broth to complete the bowl of hot pho to serve guests.
The bowl of pho evaporates suspiciously in the cold of the highlands, looks simple, simple but makes a special impression because of the strange taste with the pho dishes that are familiar to people in the lower regions. The hand-sliced noodles are larger and thicker, so they are also more flexible, absorbing the broth and becoming soft and smooth, but not easy to break or break when picking. The natural sweet broth does not contain main noodles, seasonings, and adds the fattiness of chicken, satisfying the cravings of hungry people.
Sour Pho - Cao Bang
Memorable because of the gentle sour taste when combined with pho noodles, sour pho has long become a unique feature in the cuisine of Cao Bang people in general and some northern mountainous provinces in particular. This dish is in dry form, the ingredients are fully prepared, when eating, just mix well with the sauce.
Unlike Trang Kiem pho, which uses fresh noodles to wash by hand during the day, sour pho uses pho cakes to cool to ensure that the noodles are tough, flexible and not crumbled when mixed. In Cao Bang, people often eat it with grilled duck meat with honeyed leaves on embers or crispy marinated pork belly. But the typical ingredient of sour pho is yam, a type of root that is only found in Cao Bang. After being preliminarily processed, the yam is sliced and golden colander evenly in hot oil.
When all the ingredients are available, people create the soul of the sour pho with a sauce made from vinegar or "pot" as the locals call it. To make the sauce more greasy, people use the juice secreted from the roast duck, add fried onions and garlic, vinegar, fish sauce, sugar, and cook until it thickens to a moderate level.
Cao Bang sour pho bowl is a combination of colors and flavors. The green color of the top herbs, the white color of the pho noodles, the golden brown color of the meat or the fried potato noodles. Despite the many fried ingredients, this dish doesn't get boring thanks to the mild sourness of the sauce that balances out, combining sweet roasted peanuts and fresh raw vegetables.
Pho Beef - Nam Dinh
Nam Dinh is a land famous for beef pho - a dish that was once included in the list of Top 100 Vietnamese specialties in 2021. In the center of Nam Dinh city, there is no shortage of famous long-standing beef pho shops, even since the time of subsidies, customers are busy coming in and out every day.
The way to prepare Nam Dinh beef pho has some differences from Hanoi beef pho. The broth is simmered from tube bones, cow's tail bones and pork bones, without using cardamom, cinnamon, anise, but only adding roasted ginger and fried onions. Therefore, when tasting, the pho soup is sweet, simple in taste, and somewhat lighter than Hanoi beef pho. Diners can use spices such as soup powder, fish sauce, garlic vinegar, pepper, and chili peppers on the table to taste and reduce the taste.
The beef in pho is not sliced but smashed, chopped but not too fine, blanched and then put in a bowl, filled with more broth to keep the freshness and nutrients inside. Nam Dinh pho noodles are similar to ordinary pho noodles but thinner, softer and more flexible, mixed with smooth and smooth broth, easy to swallow.
Some notes when enjoying Nam Dinh beef pho are that diners should taste the broth before adding other ingredients. The noodles are thin and small, soaked in water for a long time are easy to break, affecting the taste, diners should enjoy when the broth is still hot.
Pho - Hanoi
Since when, pho has become a characteristic feature in the lives of the people of Ha Thanh. From street vendors, pho passes through each street, creeps into the alleys and reigns on all roads from big to small in the capital.
Hanoi pho is special thanks to the broth with a light, clear sweet taste simmered from beef or chicken bones mixed with the aroma of cinnamon, anise, fragrant on a street corner, attracting diners from morning to night. Visitors can easily find a delicious old beef pho shop in Hanoi and enjoy it while it is hot.
Compared to beef pho, chicken pho is also no less competitive with an equally large number of fans. A simple bowl of chicken noodle soup with the pale yellow color of the broth and shiny yellow, green chicken skin of green onions obscures the white noodle cake below. The clear, fragrant, sweet, naturally fatty broth, tender pho cakes and ripe boiled chicken are ready to knock down the taste buds of diners who love this pho.
Not as famous as beef pho or chicken pho, but beef pho with wine sauce - a dish that combines Vietnamese cuisine and Western style will bring diners a new taste, different from traditional pho dishes. Beef pho with wine sauce has a striking color, the pieces and beef tendons cut in the shape of chess pieces are marinated in sauce and spices, and cashew oil gives an eye-catching orange-red color. The white noodles are also dyed pale orange by the yellow sauce.
Hanoi is the place with the highest density of pho restaurants in the country, from luxury restaurants to popular eateries. Hanoi people can eat pho three meals a day, even at night and during the four seasons a year. Up to now, Hanoi pho has not only disappeared but also reached the world, appearing in many countries to promote Vietnam's typical cuisine.
Photo: Hieu Nguyen Tran
Source: Travelsig