Illustrative image (Source: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnam haschosen December 12 every year as 'Pho Day' to honour the dish. Hoang Howrites about the significance of the noodle soup.
There have been countlessarticles, books, travel guides and comments from gastronomes,journalists, authors and tourists worldwide about Pho.
There's no disputingthe popularity of this national dish, the latest example being just twomonths before the national 'Day of Pho' (December 12th), CNNranked Pho bo (beef noodle soup) as the 28th best food in theworld.
So, I felt under a lot ofpressure when I began writing about this dish.
What can be saidabout Pho when everything from the beef to the broth andnoodles has been discussed in god knows how many articles. Almost everyangle has been covered.
Well, almost.
Yes, there has beena lot written about the food, but the connoisseurs and cooks, well that'sa different story.
It’s not going too farto say that Pho was, is and always will be a symbol, not justa dish, for Vietnamese people.
Painter Trinh Tri eats Pho literally every day and the dishhas played an indispensable role in the life of this 80-year-old Hanoian.
“Pho issomething I couldn’t live without. No, it’s more than just 'something', it’s anart. I eat at least one bowl of Pho a day or else I would feellike I'm missing something.
“You want tasty anddelicious Pho, you will have to respect the food first. When itcomes to Pho, it’s like a national pride and Vietnamese cansometimes be super picky."
Whether you agree or not, whose voice has more weight than Vu Bang, one of themost famous Vietnamese gastronomes? And he agreed with Tri.
“A picky connoisseurmustn’t take it easy when choosing a Pho shop, especiallyrandom shops”, Bang wrote in his famous book The Delicious Dishes of Hanoi.
There were three kindsof Pho store at that time: vendors, restaurants and Pho madeon mobile trolleys.
Bang believed it’s notabout how beautiful or modern the shop is, the only thing diners care aboutis Pho.
“To be honest, the onlything connoisseurs care about is the noodles, no matter how the space is, ifthe rice noodles are thin and pliable, the beef is soft and the broth is trulyrich in flavour, which is sweet from the bone. That bowl of Pho isreally worth trying”.
“At that time, there wasa rumors the broth in those fancy stores couldn’t compete againstother ordinary old stores in the sweetness, the rich in flavour. If it issweet, it can only due to MSG rather than the bone of ox. Not to mention someof them even add sugar inside.
“Eating a bowl of Pho likethat not only makes you regret spending money, but also wastes your time andeffort," Bang asserted.
According to Bang,there’s no other food that makes people “suffer” just to have a delicious bowl.
There used to behundreds of customers waiting outside a small lane on Hang Khay Street just totry a couple bowls of Pho in a really old and simple vendorshop.
In the morning, peopleused to queue all over Hàm Long Street junction to try tau bay Pho -one of the most famous examples of the dish at that time.
“Pho is notjust a dish, not just an enjoyment of senses, but also a 'problem' whendiscussing savouring and making it," Bang wrote.
For me, there isn’t anybetter way to solve that problem than by depicting my grandfather’s story.
“In 1952, on Hang KhayStreet, there was one of the most famous Pho stores at thattime – Pho Trang (Trang is the name of the chef). Many people loved eatingthere, in an uplifting mood, some people called him 'The king of Pho 1952',”he recalled.
The atmosphere of Trangmaking Pho and customers waiting in a really long queue isstill vivid in my grandfather's memory.
“Trang was one of themost bizarre people I’ve ever seen. It was like he didn’t care about any of hiscustomers, he just stayed completely silent, chopping beef and making broth ata very relaxed speed despite countless customers surrounding, yelling,screaming, even swearing at him.
“I saw all classes ofpeople eating there, from people stepping out of cars, beautiful andclassy women to workers. Despite that, he didn’t seem to care about them atall, many of them felt really uncomfortable when meeting him."
But they had no otherchoices, because his Pho was one a kind.
“We knew it was going tobe delicious even before eating. A little bit of noodles, some fresh fragrantherbs, a few yellow and red slices of ginger and chilli, etc. It was just likea colourful painting.
“After that, Trang wouldserve customers with different beef according to their orders. Fromeye round steak, flank, tendon, tripe, and fatty flank. After that, adding somepepper, lemon or vinegar. Finally, a perfect noodle poem is composed”.
Throughout time, Pho storeshave sprouted up across the world, so maybe some people see Pho asno different than a normal dish.
I hope these little storiescan help remind us again how precious Pho is, not only forVietnamese people, but for all the world./.
VNA