Bánh phở is the noodle used in the Vietnamese pho dish. Reader Eric left a request over at the other post “Pronunciation of Pho and Other Vietnamese Words and Phrases” inquiring about what to say when you want to order extra Bánh Phở noodles, or a side order of pho noodles. Eric says:

hi there- i’m wondering how to pronounce the following question about ordering extra rice noodles:
có thể tôi xin có bún thêm cho một đồng đô la phụ? Tôi rất đói.
the direct translation (from google translate) is:
can i please have extra rice noodles for an extra dollar? i’m very hungry.
thanks!

Hmm Google translation helps sometimes, but not in this case.

But first let’s get something straight. In my opinion, the best thing to do is to have bánh phở added to your bowl in the kitchen before they pour in the hot pho broth. Some may prefer a side bowl of just bánh phở at your table, but if you think about it, you’ll want everything in the bowl before the broth is poured in. This is because bánh phở needs to cook with the rest of the other pho ingredients in the bowl. Even if the pho noodles are blanched and then served in a separate side bowl at your table, you’ll have to immediately put it in your bowl. Otherwise if you leave it in the side bowl while enjoying the main portion first, the side noodles will continue to cook on the inside and get all lumped up and mushed together, and will become cold and dry on the outside, all while your broth is cooling in your bowl as well. Anyway if you must then you must, but I recommend extra bánh phở inside the bowl, not outside.

Note that Eric’s message implies that he wants certain quantity (a dollar’s worth) of pho noodles. As far as I know, most pho restaurants either charge one price for sides or none at all. So specifying a dollar amount’s worth of banh pho may not work well in most situations. Also there is absolutely nothing wrong with the “very hungry” part, but I’ll leave that part out of the audio files as well. If someone really must have the “I’m very hungry” then please leave a request in the comment, I’ll do it then.

As requested by Eric, below are 3 variations of ordering extra pho noodles when you’re in a restaurant. The variation between each phrase is very minimal, but the impact can be major. They range from more formal to casual ordering tones.

Pronounce: Ordering extra bánh phở noodles with your phở.

• More formal. Xin cho thêm bánh phở (Please add/give more banh pho noodles.) Southern accent once, then Northern accent twice.
• Neutral. Cho tôi thêm bánh phở (Add/give me more banh pho noodles.) Southern then Northern accent.
• Casual. Cho thêm bánh phở (Add/give more banh pho noodles.) Southern then Northern accent. 

Thanks for the question Eric!

So have you ordered anything extra with your pho? Take the poll below.

How to Order Extra Bánh Phở Noodles With Your Pho is a post from: Vietnamese Pho Noodles

I had the privilege to meet and chat with Brian Nguyen, the founder of Quoc Viet Foods^® Incorporation in Westminster, California, the maker of Vietnamese pho and other soup bases. I find Brian’s story about how he started Quoc Viet pho soup base and where he wants to take his company quite fascinating. Here’s a recount of our encounter.

First a little bit about the company. Quoc Viet Foods^® specializes in manufacturing and distributing Vietnamese pho soup bases and other seasonings. The company is the first to use modern technologies to convert the traditional Vietnamese dishes into the convenient soup base form. Quoc Viet’s soup bases and seasonings are processed from natural ingredients and do not contain any preservatives. For those who think soup bases are cheap, MSG-laden imitation of the real thing, they haven’t try these products. In fact Quoc Viet’s pho and other products are so good you’ll get restaurant taste and quality at home. By the way, in the interest of full disclosure, I did not receive any compensation for writing this article.

Those who have been looking for quick pho recipes probably saw my post about Quoc Viet Foods’s pho soup base. In it I described how to make a batch of 20 plus bowls of pho in less than 3 hours. I took my time for that post, but my subsequent performance has improved to less than one hour. So you can say I’m a fan, and Quoc Viet Foods’ products should definitely be on your try list if you don’t want to deal with bones, oxtails, and 3-6 hours in the kitchen.

Quoc Viet Foods’ Formative Years

The company name is Quốc Việt Foods^® Incorporation. In Vietnamese, the word “quốc” means nation, state or country, and of course Việt is the majority ethnic group of people living in Vietnam. So Quốc Việt Foods^® is all about the traditional flavors and taste of Viet foods of the motherland. By training, Brian Nguyen earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a Master of Science in Food Sciences. He’s worked for major food companies so he had all the right knowledge, from food product development to testing, from production to packaging, and distribution. Only problem was, he had no product to call his own.

On many trips to the local supermarkets, Brian told me he often looked that Viet foods on the shelves that are made in Thailand and elsewhere, with questionable quality and authenticity. One can almost see the entrepreneurial mind at work, and like many entrepreneurs, Brian had this energy that was just waiting to explode into a great product for a waiting market.

It finally dawned on Brian Nguyen that pho is what he wanted to do. Already in existence were mediocre products at best, and Brian definitely had some ideas. Now I’ve written before that Vietnamese cuisine is not something easily duplicable into mass produced quantities. And when it comes to pho, the variation is something that is expected. It’s one reason why I’ve not been impressed with pho franchises. But I digress.

Back to Brian and his pho. His garage became his R&D and product development laboratory – think Steve Jobs, Apple computers, and garage. Local supermarket meat departments were his beef bone and oxtail suppliers. It came to a point that butchers knew his face, what and how much he wanted as soon as he approached them in their shops. And his neighbors started wondering about this family next door that cooked pho everyday, all day long. Brian’s family is Northern Vietnamese so it’s no surprise, but the real kicker was when he told me neither he nor his family liked pho!

It wasn’t until the business actually opened that the butchers and neighbors understood what he was up to.

Growth and Market Expansion

Quoc Viet Foods^® then began a journey of growth from a humble 900 square foot location in 2002, expanding progressively to larger facilities every few years, to the current 12,000 sq ft space.

With an excellent product line, an expanding pho market that continue to gain visibility and popularity, new products coming down the pipeline, Quoc Viet is poised for more growth in the coming years. You can now buy Quoc Viet’s products from many Asian supermarkets. For those who cannot find a local retailer, the company will make an effort to ship products directly as well, though it’s an exception rather the rule.

In addition to supplying to the supermarkets, Quoc Viet Foods^® also ships products to restaurants, hospitals, schools, and casinos. Recently the company also became an approved vendor to SYSCO, the ubiquitous distributor of food and related products and services to restaurants, nursing homes, hospitals, hotels, motels, schools, colleges, cruise ships, sports parks and summer camps – wherever a meal is prepared away from home. This is serious pho distribution channel.

New Products – Vietnamese Coffee and Tea

Vietnamese milk coffee Cà phê sữa (either đá or nóng – iced or hot) is great by itself or it can go well with or after a bowl of pho. Brian Nguyen informed me that Quoc Viet Foods^® is also bringing to market its own new products of coffee and tea. Branded Cafvina, the coffee that I tried rivaled many coffees you may find in retail shops, and can give Lee’s Sandwiches’ iced coffee some serious challenge. Cafvina brand coffee comes in whole bean, ground, concentrated or ready-to-drink varieties. Look out for them.

Visit QuocViet.com.

Quoc Viet Foods® Steadily Growing and Bringing Vietnamese Pho to the Masses is a post from: Vietnamese Pho Noodles

The basil family of herbs is one of the oldest and most commonly used herbs in the world. The variety known as Thai basil is no exception; it is utilized so extensively in Indian and Southeast Asian dishes that it is practically considered a vegetable rather than a simple herb. In Vietnamese pho, Thai basil has a prominent place on the plate of garnishes that are served along with the steamy bowl of broth, meat and noodles.

Because there are so many variants of basil in every corner of the world, it is not really a surprise to find someone confusing Thai basil with one of its cousins. But Thai basil has a unique smell, appearance and taste that makes it stand out from among the others.

What Is Thai Basil?

Thai basil is known by many names. In the West, it is sometimes called licorice basil, sweet basil or anise basil, although there are variants of basil that are also referred to by those names. In Thailand, Thai basil is called bai horapa, while in Vietnam, it is known as rau húng quế. Interestingly, rau hung que literally means “cinnamon mint,” though Thai basil is a true basil.

This true basil is made distinct by its small leaves, smaller than its western and European counterparts. It also has purple stems; when it blooms, its flowers are also colored purple. There are many varieties of Thai basil grown all over the world, but the most popularly cultivated is called the Siam Queen. As for taste, Thai basil is known for its peppery zing that is coupled with a kind of sweetness akin to that of licorice and anise. This is the reason why this type of basil is also called anise basil or licorice basil.

Thai basil should not be confused with Thai holy basil or with Thai lemon basil. These are all commonly used basils in Southeast Asian cooking, but Thai holy basil has leaves that are smaller and velvety in texture. Thai holy basil also smells like cloves. On the other hand, Thai lemon basil smells and tastes like lime, just like its name suggests. The other name of Thai lemon basil is hoary basil.

One advantage that Thai basil holds over its numerous cousins is that it retains its flavor well even when cooked. The same cannot be said about the other types of basil, especially the Mediterranean strain that is called sweet basil in the West. That being said, Thai basil is best consumed fresh, just like any other kind of basil. If it is to be preserved, one can chop it and mix it with olive oil or honey to make it last longer.

History, Lore and Legends of Basil

Since it is one of the oldest herbs in use in the world, basil has a long stretch of lore and history behind it. Thai basil is no exception. The herb may be called Thai basil, but its origins are placed in India, where it has been cultivated for at least five thousand years. One of Thai basil’s Indian cousins, the Indian sacred basil or tulasi, is regarded as a holy plant. Tulasi is seen as a representation of the goddess Lakshmi, who is one of the consorts of the Hindu god Vishnu. Basil is often scattered in graveyards in India.

Trading took basil to other parts of the world, and the herb gained its own meaning where it landed. The name “basil” actually came from “basileus,” the Greek word for “king.” That is because the herb was often used to treat the ailments of royals, and was often mixed in their baths to keep them healthy.

Basil is also a symbol for love in Italy. If a man wishes to marry a woman, he calls upon her with basil in his hair. Ancient Roman marriage practices include exchanging basil leaves or sprigs.

In Thailand and Vietnam, and in the rest of peninsular Southeast Asia, Thai basil keeps one healthy. It is more regarded as a vegetable in this region rather than just an herbal garnishing.

Role of Thai Basil in Pho

Thai basil is an optional ingredient in Vietnamese pho. Along with bean sprouts, lime wedges and chopped Asian chili, Thai basil is always included in the plate of garnishing that is provided with the bowl of pho (except for the Pho Bac or northern pho variety.) Whether it is to be put in the bowl or not depends on the discretion and desire of the person eating it.

What does Thai basil do to pho? As mentioned above, this herb has a peppery taste that can be quite spicy. It adds a layer of liveliness to the delightfully complex mix of flavors in a bowl of pho. At the same time, Thai basil is also sweet, a sweetness that is similar to that of anise and licorice.

Vietnamese cuisine, just like most Asian cuisines that are heavily influenced by the Chinese, follows the Chinese principle of balance in cooking. What this balance means is that all the five basic tastes of saltiness, sweetness, spiciness, bitterness and sourness should be present in every dish. However, these flavors should be in harmony with one another instead of fighting it out in one’s tongue. Vietnamese cooks always strive to achieve perfection in their food by creating the right balance between these five tastes. It is no different with Vietnamese pho.

Enjoying Thai Basil in Your Pho

Most people throw in the basil leaves and let them cook in the bowl as they eat their pho. For those who want to maximize the taste of Thai basil in your pho, do this instead.

1. Pluck and gather a few leaves together and pinch/tear them into smaller pieces into the bowl. This releases all the basil’s fragrant flavors and aroma more quickly and intensely, so you get to enjoy it even before eating it.
2. The next step is to not cook them in the broth. Don’t push them down into the hot broth but just let them be on top of everything. You’ll get to them when you get to them. By doing this you’ll get the freshest possible taste of basil as you enjoy the rest of the pho ingredients.
3. Thirdly, put them in as you progress with your pho. Don’t put them all in at once at the beginning. Pace them out over the course of your pho adventure, and stop after maybe 2/3 of the way. This is because if you continue after the broth has cooled then you’re essentially eating raw basil which may be too pungent for some.
4. Finally, for the maximum Thai basil effect, you can obviously use more of it with each and every mouthful of pho.

I’m more in the #3 and #4 camp myself.

Growing Thai Basil

Thai basil is a kind of herb that can be grown successfully both indoors and outdoors as long as it has access to sunshine at certain periods during the day, it is regularly and liberally watered, and it is planted in well-irrigated soil. There are actually many cultivars of the Thai basil, though, as mentioned above, the most popular of them is called the Siam Queen.

This type of basil is pretty much resilient regardless of the climate and can be grown all year round, although it does not really like the cold.  Another beautiful fact about Thai basil is that it is believed to repel garden pests like aphids and mites. This is why many gardeners choose it as a companion plant to protect their more susceptible plants.

If the Thai basil is to be planted at an outdoor garden, its seeds must first be prepared and allowed to germinate indoors. The seedlings can then be transplanted to their outdoor plots when they become two or three inches tall. In addition, the seedlings must be planted eight inches apart from each other.

Thai basil can be harvested by plucking or cutting one leaf at a time as needed for cooking and other purposes. However, to encourage the herb to grow more leaves, it is recommended that the third top of the stem be cut instead. When cutting leaves and stems, clean and sharp gardening scissors should always be used.

Thai Basil – Must Have Ingredient for Pho

Thai basil adds a sweet and zesty layer of flavor to the dish, and it can help enhance the richness of pho. Readers to LovingPho indicated in the What’s in your pho? poll that Thai basil is one of the top 3 items they prefer in their pho bowls, right up there with bean sprouts and lime. It beats out culantro, hot chili sauce, hoisin sauce for pho, and sliced peppers. So for those who have decided Thai basil is not for them: maybe it’s time to try it again?

Thai Basil – The Siam Queen Takes Her Place in Vietnamese Pho is a post from: Vietnamese Pho Noodles

There are three main elements to every bowl of Vietnamese pho: the steamy, flavorful and aromatic broth; the meat, whether it is tenderly cooked chicken or beef that is rare or well-done; and the banh pho noodle. It’s the banh pho that makes pho a noodle dish. Without banh pho noodle, it’s just another soup.

Many Vietnamese culinary experts will tell you that the life of pho is in the broth because that is where most of the flavors that characterize this dish are in. But one can argue that the body of pho is in the banh pho noodle itself. Everything else – the fresh herbs, the bean sprouts, the sliced Serrano chili, the lime wedges and all the other fixings in the bowl – is just optional, nice to have stuff.

What is Banh Pho Noodle?

Let’s start with a quick definition. Banh pho is the noodle used in pho dish. What differentiates banh pho from other noodle varieties is banh pho has square or rectangular cross-sections (depending on width size), as opposed to mostly round cross-sections most other noodles come in. For the purpose of this discussion, I’ll use banh pho and banh pho noodle interchangeably.

Banh pho are noodles made from rice flour. In countries other than Vietnam, they are called chantaboon or rice sticks.  Modern conveniences have seen banh pho sold as dry packaged varieties in supermarkets and grocery stores, but the ideal banh pho are those made fresh. These Vietnamese noodles are flat and white, with widths varying from a millimeter to a centimeter, or even wider (or 1/16″ to wider widths of 1/8″, 1/4″ or sometimes even 3/8″.) When banh pho is cooked, its texture becomes soft and chewy, and its appearance translucent.

Banh Pho: An Essential Pho Ingredient

Why is banh pho so important in a bowl of pho? One can say that pho is not pho without the correct banh pho rice noodles in it. You can eliminate the garnishing, but you cannot take banh pho noodles out of a proper bowl of pho. And you can’t have just few strands of banh pho floating in the broth, you have to have a whole lot of them. In fact in a restaurant, it’s totally an acceptable option to order more banh pho in your bowl than normally served (see the article on “Tips on Ordering Pho Your Way.”)

Here’s another way of looking at it. In Vietnam and Southeast Asia in general, a meal is always composed of a main dish that is starchy and made of carbohydrates. These come in the form of either steamed rice or noodles. The other dishes made from meat, seafood or vegetables eaten at the table during the meal are just side dishes that complement the rice or the noodles served. There may be a soup side dish served along side the other side dishes. This is called “canh” in Vietnamese, and is often consumed in small bowl sized portion over rice or by itself during the course of the meal.

Banh Pho: The Foundation of a Pho Meal

A meal in Southeast Asia is never complete without the rice or the noodles, and when pho, hu tieu or any other noodle dish is the meal, the noodles are the foundation of such meal.

Vietnamese pho is a complete meal in a bowl. The broth serves as the soup, the rice noodles the starchy element, the meat as the protein, and the herb garnishing and the bean sprouts as the salad part. All these elements form a unified whole and the meal would not be filling (nor fulfilling) without the rice noodles.

However, it is not enough that the rice noodles just exist in the bowl. In an Asian meal, the rice dish is so important that its quality dictates the tone of the entire meal. If one has to force down rice that was not properly cooked, it spoils the meal even if the side dishes were made for the kings and emperors.

The same thing applies to banh pho noodle. Bad noodles make bad pho. Banh pho should be fresh, with a slippery texture that is smooth enough for a good and easy slurp. If they are of the dried, supermarket variety, they should be prepared carefully. They should not sit in sticky clumps in the bottom of the bowl, and they should not be tough to chew on. Neither should they be so overcooked that they break apart when you pick them up with your chopsticks.

A Sample Package of Fresh Banh Pho Noodle

Fresh Banh Pho Noodle Nutrition Facts: Serving Size 2 oz (56g), calories 150, sodium 240mg, total carbohydrate 35g, protein 3g

How Banh Pho Is Made

As mentioned above, banh pho noodles are made from rice flour.  Although the dried version is now available in supermarkets and grocery stores, these noodles are best when they are freshly made. In Vietnam, it would not be surprising to find a family that makes its own banh pho.

TravelPod.com has a simple yet interesting post detailing how Vermicelli noodle is made. I imagine banh pho is made similarly – I’ll have to do more research on this.

Preparing Banh Pho for Pho

Properly preparing banh pho noodles for serving in pho depends on whether you use the dry or fresh banh pho. If the banh pho is the dry type, then they should be soaked in hot water for 15 to 20 minutes, and drained afterwards. The resulting noodles should be soft and translucent.

Three Sizes of Dry Banh Pho Noodles

Variety of Dry Banh Pho at Local Asian Market

But if the banh pho is fresh, it should be rinsed under cold running water and then blanched in boiling water for no more than a few seconds, until the desired softness and translucence is achieved.

The noodles are then placed in individual bowls, occupying about a third of the available space. Obviously those who like more noodles in their pho can add more banh pho as desired. Just remember to scale down on the other ingredients as the noodle will expand in the hot broth. The meat is placed over banh pho, and then the piping hot broth is ladled into the bowl.

The Bottom Line: Pho Is not Pho Without Banh Pho

Substituting a different noodle may be acceptable at home but what you have then is “broken” pho. No self-respecting pho restaurant will serve pho without properly prepared banh pho, because it’s just “wrong.” If you run across someone serving pho with round noodles, demand your money back because it may be something else but certainly not pho they’re selling.

Banh Pho (Bánh Phở) – It’s All About the Square Noodles is a post from: Vietnamese Pho Noodles

Updated 01-16-12. There’s nothing like enjoying a bowl of pho at your favorite pho shop with your pho companions. But there are times, for various reasons, you’d like to make pho yourself at home. Most authentic pho recipes like Andrea Nguyen‘s or Didier Corlou‘s call for cooking the bone and meat in broth for up to 2.5 to 3 hours. Adding other preparation time, including the time to bring water to boil, and you’re looking at maybe 4-5 hours total cook time. So for those who want to take a shortcut and shave off a few hours, try the Quoc Viet Foods Beef Flavored “Pho” Soup Base option.

Quoc Viet Foods makes shelf storable soup bases, seasonings, coffee and tea. When it comes to authenticity, it’s always a challenge to find ready-made food products, including Vietnamese pho. Yet Quoc Viet seems to achieve the impossible for pho, that is to “convert the traditional Vietnamese products into a convenient form” while maintaining the flavor expected of such product. This means for those who never made pho or tasted pho, they can now get very close to the real thing, easily.

You can read more about my other post on Quoc Viet Foods. But enough about the company. Let’s get to the goodness of their Beef Flavored “Pho” Soup Base.

The package comes in a compact round plastic container. The wraparound label clearly describes the content and includes an ingredient list, nutrition information and cooking directions in English, Viet and Chinese. While the nutrition info states that there are 32 servings per container, the cooking directions indicate it makes 20 bowls. Confusing, but still very nice! At a price of US$ 6.99 per container, I’m paying US$ 0.35 for the broth in each of my pho bowls, excluding a few other ingredients of course.

Inside the container are the powdered soup base with marrow, and 2 bags of spices. The soup base is the key part of the pho broth and is essentially your “instant” bone/bone marrow solution that you didn’t have to cook for 2-3 hours. It also packs plenty of beef fats which you can skim off at serving time if you wish. The spice bags are your normal star anise, cinnamon, and various other spices. What’s awesome about the soup base/spice bag combination is they give you all you need for the broth, including all seasonings that you need-I added some fish sauce but it’s really not required. The only other 2 things you’ll need are the ginger and onion which should be charred or grilled before use in the broth.

Quoc Viet Foods Beef Soup Base	Quoc Viet Foods Beef Soup Base Nutrition Facts
Quoc Viet Foods Beef Soup Base Cooking Directions	Quoc Viet Foods Beef Soup Base Package Content

The direction is very easy to follow. You’ll have to buy your preferred meat to cook, but this whole process entirely does away with having to buy the bone/oxtail and cooking them to get to the marrow, and to purchase the spices separately. For my broth I bought 2.8 pounds of beef flank, a piece of ginger and a medium size onion. The required ingredients list and cooking directions can be viewed from the photos below, but here’s a recap:

REQUIRED INGREDIENTS:

• 3-4 lbs, beef flank or brisket,
• 1 lb, beef tendon*,
• 1 bulb, onion,
• 2 pieces, ginger.

DIRECTIONS:

• Blanch meats for 15 minutes. Discard solution and rinse meats.
• (Step not in package direction): Char or grill the onion and ginger pieces. I cut my onion in half, but it’s your choice to do so or not.
• Put meats, onion, ginger, in a large pot and add enough water to cover meats. Boil at medium flame for 1 hour.
• After 1 hours, add spice bags and content of soup base. Do not tear spice filter bags.
• After 15 minutes, remover filter bags. Boil at medium flame until meats are softened.
• Remove meats, onion and ginger pieces.
• Adjust water to 2 gallons or to taste.
• Bring to boil and serve.

* The meats and tendon are optional, or you can also substitute/add tripe, meatballs, etc. depending on your preference, just as you would order in a restaurant. See my “Tips on Ordering Pho Your Way.”

For me I ended up with so much broth that I had to divide into 3 smaller containers, put 2 in the freezer and enjoy the third portion over a few days. Again the key was the soup base which is all inclusive. There are no seasonings required as the soup base is super concentrated, and you can add water to adjust to taste. My total cooking time was about 3 hours, but that’s just me because making and eating pho is a religion for me so I took my time. For others who just want to get quickly to a nice steaming bowl of pho with chopsticks and spoon in hands, you can probably do it in 1.5 hours or less. An alternative is to use a smaller portion of beef (hence cutting down cooking time further) and/or use pre-cooked meatballs instead. By the way, for those unfamiliar with meatballs, you don’t cook them in the broth for the whole duration. Just heat them in the broth just before serving.

Finally I rate my pho broth creation using Quoc Viet  Foods’ Beef Flavored Pho Soup Base as follows:

• Quality and taste: 8/10.
• Convenience: 10/10.
• Affordability: 10/10.
• Total value (quality & affordability): 9/10.

You can find this and other Quoc Viet products in many Viet and Chinese food markets in the 50 U.S. states, Denmark, Canada and Japan. Quoc Viet’s website indicates their products include

1. Chicken Flavored “Pho” Soup Base
2. Beef Flavored “Pho” Soup Base
3. Beef Stew Seasoning
4. “Hue” Style Beef Flavored Soup Base
5. Chicken Flavored Soup Base
6. Pork Flavored “Hu Tieu” Soup Base
7. Pork Flavored Soup Base
8. Tamarind Soup Base
9. Vegetarian Soup Base
10. Crab Flavored Soup Base
11. Thai Tom Yum Soup Base

Unfortunately Quoc Viet is a wholesaler and does not sell directly to consumers over the Internet. The company is also very active at local demos, festivals, and charity fund drives, so if you’re lucky you can catch them in action serving pho to hungry pho fans at these events.

Quick Beef Pho Recipe with Quoc Viet Foods’ Pho Soup Base is a post from: Vietnamese Pho Noodles

Fans of Vietnamese pho, both from Vietnam and outside of Vietnam, and whether or not they have Vietnamese ancestry, have become used to that plate of garnishing that accompanies a bowl of pho. Some even think that pho looks quite forlorn without that plate of garnishing. Bean sprouts, Thai basil, culantro, wedges of lime and fresh Serrano chili pepper are the expected garnishing to accommodate a steaming bowl of pho. In this article we’ll take a look at bean sprouts, that almost tasteless, odorless and seemingly unimportant ingredient.

If you were to ask a Vietnamese pho purist, he or she would say that bean sprouts are not necessary ingredients to pho. In fact, the pho purist may be quick to point out that the original pho, which is pho bac or pho of North Vietnam, did not even have bean sprouts or any of those garnishes so common to southern pho. A hot and tasty broth over fresh rice noodles and good cuts of beef are enough to make a perfect bowl of pho.

For many pho eaters, the role of the herbs, spices and sauces that are included in that plate of garnishing is meant to enhance the sumptuous flavor of pho beyond what’s already in the bowl when served. In addition, they also add to pho’s overall texture. This is not really unique to pho, however. Many Viet dishes, especially the noodle varieties (those with broth or dry, served hot or at room temperature), require some kind of green garnishes of herbs and vegetables to be added to the main dish at the table. So bean sprouts is one of those popular fresh ingredients, and its use to enhance pho is well known.

What Are Bean Sprouts?

Generally speaking, bean sprouts are stalks that germinate from any kind of bean seed. In the case of the bean sprouts used in pho, they come from sprouted mung beans. Mung beans are legumes with green husks. They are also called mash beans, green beans, green soy, moong or monggo.

The sprouts of mung beans are simply called bean sprouts. These sprouts have white or silvery stalks. When the husk is removed from the heads, the heads are yellowish in hue. Bean sprouts can be eaten raw, but they can also be included in quickly cooked stir-fry dishes. They are crunchy when raw or just slightly cooked, and they have a fresh, light sweet taste.

It is widely said that bean sprouts have been around and have been used in cooking and for medicinal purposes for more than five thousand years. Mung beans originated in the Indian subcontinent, and through trading and conquests, they made their way into China, where they became an important part of Chinese cuisine. Since Chinese cuisine is a major influence in Asian cuisine, both mung beans and bean sprouts found their way into the cuisines of India, East Asia and Southeast Asia, including Vietnam.

Role of Bean Sprouts in Pho

Bean sprouts, as mentioned above, are optional ingredients in Vietnamese pho. They are served separately from the bowl of pho, in a plate of garnish that also includes lime wedges, Thai basil and chopped Serrano chili. In pho bac, bean sprouts and the other garnishes are generally omitted.

Despite the fact that bean sprouts are only optional in pho, many pho eaters want them in their bowl nonetheless. These sprouts enrich the layers of flavor and texture of the already flavor-rich pho by adding in some crunch and a bit of sweetness into the dish. Overall, bean sprouts help make pho a more balanced dish.

The idea of balance in every dish served in a meal is a philosophy of Chinese cooking. In Chinese cuisine, it is important for the five types of tastes – sweet, sour, bitter, spicy and salty – to be satisfied in a single dish served in during the meal. These five tastes should exist in harmony within the dish instead of compete with each other for dominance. In pho, bean sprouts contribute to the layer of sweetness.

If you are familiar with bean sprouts at all, you know that it can be eaten raw or cooked, or somewhere in between. In many Vietnamese dishes, and clearly in pho, bean sprouts can be enjoyed at any of the cooked state just mentioned. If you want fresh raw sprouts in almost every bite, then add them in the bowl a few at a time. If you like them somewhat cooked, then add more at the beginning so they are cooked while you eat. Finally, if you like cooked sprouts, add them all in when the broth is still boiling hot; you’ll then enjoy fully cooked sprouts as you proceed eating your pho. Alternatively, many also order blanched or steamed bean sprouts on the side. See more in the article “Tips on Ordering Pho.”

In fact while bean sprouts are often provided raw in the plate of pho garnishing, some pho recipes recommend blanching bean sprouts in hot water for five to ten seconds. Exposing these sprouts briefly in heat takes away a little of the bitter aftertaste, enhances the sweetness of the sprouts and releases a form of protein in bean sprouts that are not present when they are raw.

It is quite hard to experiment with a dish as steeped in tradition as pho, but if you want to make your own pho at home and if you do not have bean sprouts available, you can probably substitute other kinds of sprouts. Sunflower sprouts, for instance, are just as sweet and crunchy as bean sprouts. Soybean sprouts are softer, though they taste less like beans. Alfalfa sprouts will wilt the moment you put it into your hot pho broth, but they also taste the same as bean sprouts.

Are Bean Sprouts Good For You?

If you are trying to lose weight, you should put bean sprouts in your pho. Bean sprouts are the weight-losers’ dream. A regular serving of the sprouts contains only 26 calories, and the sprouts are rich in protein, folacin, fiber, iron, potassium, and vitamins C and K. Bean sprouts are also low in sodium, cholesterol and saturated fat.

So, they are really good to eat. However, you should take care to buy only fresh bean sprouts and you should consume them no more than two days after buying them. You can make them last a week though by storing them in a bag with a little water and put them in the refrigerator. There are rumors that eating too many raw bean sprouts can lead to salmonella and other such ailments, and if you are wary of that, you can blanch your sprouts before eating them.

Sprouting Your Own Bean Sprouts

To avoid eating legumes that have toxins in them, as the FDA has warned of the risks of eating raw sprouts, you can make your own bean sprouts. This is actually very easy to do.

Buy your mung beans from a reliable supplier and soak them in cool water. If there are hard seeds in the mix, you can choose to throw them out. You will know which seeds are the hard ones because they sink to the bottom when you soak them in water, and they are darker than the others.

If you do not want to throw the hard seeds out, you can soak your hard seeds in warm water for 12 hours. Then, just rinse them and soak them in a container of cool water. After the 12 hours have passed, drain the water out and just set your seeds aside.

It usually takes two to three days for the bean sprouts to spring from the seeds. Rinse and drain your seeds thoroughly every eight hours, but without disturbing them too much. If you are going to make your own bean sprouts, it is recommended that you buy a sprouter, a container specifically made for sprouting beans.

Store your seeds in a place where they are safe from direct light and where they get enough air. Contrary to popular belief, it is not necessary to keep sprouts in total darkness. Thus, you do not have to put your sprouts in a cabinet. Actually, this may harm your sprouts because the ventilation inside your cabinet may not be good – it can make your sprouts inedible.

Pho and Bean Sprouts

So there you have it – the relationship between pho and bean sprouts. It may look like an odd couple, but it works well. It is up to you if you want bean sprouts in your pho, but many add them purely out of habits because it’s just natural to eat them together. One thing for sure is that they make your pho a lot more interesting to the taste. They bring an added crunch and an added sweetness to your bowl.

Bean Sprouts – Adding Crunch to the Savory Pho is a post from: Vietnamese Pho Noodles

Updated 09-15-10. When you order a bowl of Vietnamese pho at a restaurant, you will typically be served a plate of garnishing along with your steaming bowl of meat and rice noodles. The only time that plate of garnishing would be absent is when you happened to eat in a restaurant that serves authentic pho bac, the northern Vietnamese version of pho that is a lot more austere but in no way less flavorful. A typical plate of garnishing that accompanies a bowl of Vietnamese pho would contain lime wedges, chopped Asian chili, fresh Thai basil, bean sprouts and culantro.

Culantro is relatively unknown in the United States, and it is often mistaken for its cousin cilantro, another herb often found in a bowl of pho. However, for all their similarities, culantro and cilantro are two entirely different herbs.

What is culantro and just how different is it from cilantro?  How important is culantro to a bowl of pho? Let’s dig a little deeper.

So What Is Culantro?

Culantro is actually the Spanish name of an herb in the parsley family that bears the scientific name Eryngium foetidum and has long leaves edged with spines. This herb has many other names, such as: fitweed, saw leaf, sawtooth, recao, Mexican coriander, long coriander, serrated coriander and shado beni, among many others. In Vietnam, culantro is known as ngo gai (ngò gai) or thorny coriander.

The culantro plant often grows as a small plant in roseate formation, and its leaves are elongated, growing from between four to eight inches long. The plant does not thrive in frost or under direct sunlight, although it is possible to find wild culantro growing in open, sunlit areas.

Culantro is actually a native plant of Central America and the Caribbean Islands. Colonization and trading are largely responsible for introducing culantro to the rest of the world, particularly to India and Southeast Asia. However, as mentioned above, culantro is practically unknown in the United States, where it is often mistaken for cilantro.

Comparison with Other Corianders

The reason why culantro is often mistaken for cilantro is because they share similar smell and taste to the uninitiated. Just like cilantro, culantro has a pungent odor that can be reminiscent of crushed bedbugs. Some people are fine with such a smell, but some people can barely stand it. In addition to the smell, both culantro and cilantro have a bitter, soapy taste, although this flavor is stronger in culantro.

But that is where the similarities end. Although they both belong to the parsley family, cilantro has smaller leaves than culantro. Cilantro leaves are also lacy rather than thorny as in the case of culantro.

Culantro is also sometimes compared to the Vietnamese coriander, another popular herb used in Southeast Asian cuisine. Vietnamese coriander also has long leaves, but its stems are knotty and knobby. Also known as laksa leaves, Vietnamese coriander is also more fragrant than culantro.

The Role of Culantro in Pho

Culantro is an optional garnish in Vietnamese pho, along with the bean sprouts, lime wedges, chopped Asian chili and Thai basil. When you eat a bowl of pho, it is up to you to put culantro in your bowl or not. Some people actually choose not to add the herb in their pho because the smell can be too strong and the taste too bitter.

The herb nonetheless helps balances out the flavors in pho. Vietnamese cooking is highly influenced by Chinese cuisine, and among the principles followed in Chinese cuisine that the Vietnamese themselves have adopted is the principle of balance. In this principle, the five flavors of food – salty, sour, sweet, bitter and spicy – should be present in each dish. But these flavors should not compete with one another; instead, they should exist harmoniously and lend to complex layers of taste.

Culantro literally acts out a bitter role in pho. However, there is already a bitter element in every bowl of pho as provided by the chopped cilantro/scallion mix sprinkled over the noodle-and-meat assembly in the bowl. But because the cilantro and scallion are normally already cooked by the scalding broth by the time the bowl of pho is served at the table, Culantro then plays the role of the fresh and raw bitterness as chosen by the diner. It is meant to enhance the bitter layer in the flavor of pho and to give the broth a stronger zing, if that is what the diner wants in his or her pho.

Many people just tear the long culantro leaves into pieces of about one to two inches long and drop them directly into their bowl before taking the first bite (or slurp). This in effect gives them cooked culantro as they finish the meal. Others add them a few pieces at a time as they progress so that they get the maximum bitterness, freshness and crunchiness from the herb in every bite. For maximum effect, many pho connoisseurs like to tear culantro (and basil too) into smaller pieces (maybe 1/2 inch size) and add them as they eat their pho.

We take culantro (ngo gai) so seriously that our point system for rating pho at restaurants and shops gives ngo gai extra points for freshness. See the post “The Importance of Garnishes for Pho.”

Health Facts about Culantro

Aside from being a garnish or an ingredient in a dish, culantro also has medicinal properties. It is sometimes eaten to stimulate appetite in a diner and to help the diner digest his or her food, a trait that culantro shares with cilantro. The leaves of the culantro can also be boiled and made into tea that can help treat flu, pneumonia, diarrhea, fever and vomiting. Sometimes, the herb is also administered to cure convulsions in children, which is why it is called fitweed in some countries.

The herb is also healthy to eat on its own, even if you are not sick. Culantro has a high content of calcium, beta-carotene, riboflavin and iron – nutrients that the body needs to stay fit and to stave off disease.

Cultivating Culantro

It is actually easy to cultivate culantro in a garden. All you need to do is to have a plot of well-drained soil and protected from direct sunlight. You can also grow culantro in pots indoors.

When you grow culantro in a garden, the best time to do your planting is during springtime, when the frost of winter has already melted down. This herb is a tropical plant and it hates the cold. Each plant must be planted six inches apart from each other.

It is also typical for culantro to shoot out and grow flowers come summer because the heat triggers its flowering. This is why it is so important to grow it in the shade – to keep the plant from flowering for as long as possible. Mulching can also extend the plant’s life and prevent it from growing flowers. Once culantro has grown flowers, the leaves become unfit to eat and the plant eventually dies.

Harvesting culantro a few leaves at a time also helps prolong the life of the plant. When you harvest the leaves of culantro, it is important for you to use clean gardening scissors to prevent any damage to the plant.

When your plant does succeed in bolting – that is, developing flowers and seeds – just let nature take her course. Gather the seeds of your culantro plant so you could use them for replanting your herbs and replacing your dead culantro plants.

The one advantage of culantro over cilantro is that culantro can be stored without losing a lot of its flavor. Cilantro, on the other hand, is best used fresh. To store and preserve culantro, the leaves should be chopped and mixed with olive oil. The mixture should then be placed in a container and stored in the freezer. It will last there awhile.

The Culantro Bottom Line

Being an unknown herb in the United States, culantro is often mistaken for cilantro. It is also not as vital as cilantro as an ingredient in a bowl of pho, and putting culantro in pho is left to the tastes of the diner. But even though the identity of culantro is sometimes lost to cilantro, it can nonetheless has qualities that make it stand out on its own.

Many pho shops in the U.S. (and I imagine other places outside of Vietnam as well) do not offer culantro on the garnish plate all the time. In the U.S. culantro is not always cheap and easy to find, thus it’s an optional item, and pho diners don’t normally make a fuss about the missing culantro. Of course if you’re in South Vietnam eating pho, then it is expected that a large mound of culantro on a huge plate be served for you.

Culantro in Pho – An Herb in a League of Its Own is a post from: Vietnamese Pho Noodles

Updated 10-16-11. There are three elements that make up a bowl of Vietnamese pho: the broth, the rice noodles and the meat. If you are a pho lover, you may be a fan of the noodles or of the way the meat, herbs and spices play together in your mouth as you slurp your pho to the last drop. There’s no denying that the pho broth is the most important element of Vietnamese pho. Pho broth is the soul of the dish. It is what makes the dish Vietnamese pho.

Giving Meaning to the Soul of Pho

Can you imagine Vietnamese pho without its broth? It is probably impossible to do so. You may try to cook up all kinds of soups, pour it in the bowl and try to call it pho. You may resort to be creative with different meats and adding new herbs and garnishing to the mix, but it’s just not pho. The pho broth is what gives the soup its distinct character. There’s not necessarily only one way to make pho broth, but a good pho broth must follow certain rules and standards.

In fact, the key to a successful bowl of pho is the creation of a good pho broth. Pho lovers judge the bowl of pho served to them in a restaurant by sipping the broth first without putting in any seasoning or garnishing. If there’s any doubt about the quality of a bowl of pho, just take a sip of the broth to find out. If the pho broth is good, we feel immediately at home; the familiar, the warm, the good, the satisfying. But if the broth is not up to expectation, the pho eating experience becomes labored, beside the fact that one is wasting the time and money with this darn bowl of pho.

You’d be surprised, but it’s far too easy to make a bad bowl of pho. The only way to do it is to make the pho broth unpalatable. You can be forgiven for serving undercooked or overcooked banh pho (the pho noodle). You can be forgiven for not having all the right meat types or garnishing. But mess up the pho broth and your pho is ruined. Conversely, serving a great pho broth will make up for your other shortcomings many times over. There is no perfect technique for making it, but what technique is there must be done carefully to create the perfect broth, with the right taste.

How to Make Pho Broth

There is no single perfect technique for creating good pho broth. The Vietnamese always say that the best pho you will ever taste is the one cooked by your own mother (plus maybe one or two favorite restaurants), and she will have her own ideas of how good pho broth is made. These ideas, in turn, are ones that have been handed down to her by her own mother. Thus, no two bowls of pho made in two separate kitchens will ever taste the same.

But most pho recipes you will find have many common elements, from the ingredients that go into the broth to the length of time required in making the broth. Vietnamese culinary experts Andrea Nguyen‘s and Mai Pham‘s beef pho recipes call for the following ingredients:

• Yellow onions
• Ginger
• Marrow-rich beef bones and beef knuckle bones
• Additional beef chunks
• Star anise
• Cloves
• Salt
• Fish sauce
• Yellow rock sugar

Here’s a generic process. Many recipes call for preparation using two stockpots of boiling water. The beef bones and chunks are parboiled in one pot in high heat for up to five minutes. This is to remove all the fat and impurities in the beef. Andrea Nguyen recommends rinsing the bones in warm water before being transferred into the second stockpot, while Mai Pham says that it is fine to just transfer the bones and the chunks without rinsing.

In any case, the second stockpot is kept at a simmer for an hour and a half, with any scum rising to the top ladled out regularly. The spices are then added, either as they are or wrapped in cheesecloth. Before they are put into the broth, the onions and the ginger need to be charred in open flame. Mai Pham recommends toasting the star anise and the cloves lightly in a dry pan before they are put into the pot. Again techniques vary, but one can see the care and variations involved to make a good pho broth.

After the hour and a half has passed, the boneless beef chunks are removed. The remaining broth is allowed to simmer for another hour and a half or so. The pho broth is then strained and then seasoned with fish sauce, salt and rock sugar. At this point, the pho broth should look clear and free from impurities. It is perfectly acceptable for it to taste strong and even salty at this point as well because the taste will be toned down once the broth is poured over the unseasoned rice noodles and meat.

The recipe described above is the most generally accepted way of cooking pho broth. But since no two bowls of pho made from two separate kitchens ever taste the same, techniques on how to make the broth vary from kitchen to kitchen. Some cooks, for instance, do not put fish sauce in the broth but instead leave it up to the eater to season it as he or she pleases. Some cooks also skip on adding beef chunks into the simmering broth and rely on the flavor of the marrow dissolving into the broth.

Time Is Essential in Cooking Pho Broth

Perhaps the one thing that turns people off from making their own pho at home is the amount of time it takes to create the pho broth. There are stories of people hailing from Vietnamese immigrant parents all over the Internet, which say that their own mothers have given up making pho because of the time needed to cook it. If they want pho, they all go to a restaurant that serves pho to fulfill their craving for the dish.

How long should it take for beef bones to simmer in order to come up with a good pho broth? Mai Pham and Andrea Nguyen both recommend at least three hours to simmer the broth, but there are other recipes that state that the beef bones must be boiled gently for six to eight hours. For restaurant-quality pho, the time required to simmer the broth can take up to 12 hours or more.

Why is it necessary for the boiling to take that long? The explanation is simple: It takes time for the marrow in the bones to dissolve into the water. You cannot force it with shorter but harder boiling because a hard boil distorts the flavor of the pho broth. The flavor of the marrow is the essence of the broth; it must be brought out gently and doing so takes time.

The time it takes to create pho broth is definitely worth it, though, and you will end up with a broth that is so tasty you will want to slurp up every last drop. Some people resort to buying so-called pho broth cubes or canned pho broth, but the taste is just not the same. It is thin and watery compared to homemade or restaurant-made pho broth. I know, I know. Those are just quick fixes for a quick pho but I just had to mention them.

Pho is not pho without its broth. The broth is the element that gives pho its life and soul. If you can enjoy the pho broth wholeheartedly, then the rest of the ingredients in the bowl will be enjoyable too.

Pho Broth: The Soul of Vietnamese Pho is a post from: Vietnamese Pho Noodles

A good bowl of Vietnamese Pho can always stand on its own merit. Pho itself is so good that for many, both the restaurant and home cooked varieties, there is no need for all the elaborate condiments and garnishes you’d get at a pho restaurant. However, Vietnamese dishes are meals typically served with lots of greens, herbs, vegetables and various other accompaniments such as dipping sauces, hot and spicy pastes, and flavor enhancements such as a squeeze of lime or lemon. Well Pho is no exception.

Garnishes for Pho is so important to the total pho experience that our rating system treats garnishes freshness and quantity as separate point earners. Here’s LovingPho.com’s rating system based on points on scale from 1 to 5, with 5 being best:

• Pho noodle: scale 1-5.
• Soup stock: scale 1-5.
• Meats: scale 1-5.
• Garnishes*: freshness, scale 1-5.
• Garnishes: extra points for fresh ngo gai (scale 1-5). The fresher and more in quantity, the higher the points!
• Price: scale -5 to +5 based on baseline of $5-$6 per bowl (California price) being 0 point. Lower than baseline price gets extra points, while higher prices can earn negative points!
• Extra points: scale 1-5 for general ambience of the location, including clean dining area, airy and light ambience, good reliable service, totally authentic Vietnamese ambience, etc.

* No points for expected garnishes of sprouts, Thai basil, lime and chiles.

So as you can see garnish can really take the total points up a notch or down a level. Garnishes have a strong impact on the total experience of enjoying a bowl of pho, and we’re serious about it. Here’s what I mean:

1. Expected garnishes. We consider bean sprouts, basil, lime or lemon, and freshly sliced chiles to be must have items, and only rate them on levels of freshness from 1 to 5. Of note is the chiles or peppers. Most U.S. pho places serve sliced Mexican jalapeño in place of the smaller hot pepper varieties in Vietnam, usually served whole (unsliced). This in our view is an acceptable arrangement, and places with authentic offerings will get more points.
2. We consider ngo gai (culantro) important enough to the total pho eating experience that it has its own rating. Many restaurants skipped ngo gai altogether and will get low or no points. In our view there is no excuse for not having it, and those offering lots of ngo gai will get points galore.

Now after all of this, there is an exception. When it comes to Phở Bắc, the northern style (Bắc means north) that came south with Northern refugees in the 1940′s, purity is heaven. If you’re having Pho Bac, then you’re not supposed to need any garnish. It’s good as is. As Andrea Nguyen wrote in her Viet World Kitchen article: “Even today, what many Americans identify as the requisite pho garnish plate is hard to find in Hanoi. For purists like my northern-born mom, only “pho bac” (northern pho) will do.” For Pho Bac, our rating system will have to be adjusted and applied properly.

If you’re going to garnish your pho, only culantro, basil, sprouts, with a touch of lemon/lime will do. I’m sure the combination of taste was not developed overnight, but I’m glad someone did it, and the rest of us went for it. In the end, from the texture of the noodle and meat pieces, to the taste and heat of the soup broth, to the fresh green garnishes, with a touch of lime and heat of chile pepper, and finally the sweet and spicy touch of hoisin sauce and red hot sauce, everything just comes together nicely.

So what do you prefer when it comes to garnishing your pho? Chances are unless the restaurant you’re in identifies itself as having Pho Bac or offering Pho Bac on the menu specifically, each and every pho place you eat at will be the regular southern variety with garnishes. Share your pho garnish experience with us.

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The Importance of Garnishes for Pho is a post from: Vietnamese Pho Noodles