Breakfast noodles in Hanoi

In Vietnam, pho is mostly a breakfast food.

At many pho shops, cooks work right by the sidewalk. People sit on little stools and eat their hot soup.

In Vietnam, pho is mostly eaten for breakfast. Pho shops are everywhere, from city alleyways to village streets.

In Hanoi's Old Quarter, the food writer Andrea Nguyen arrived at a famous pho shop at 6:30 in the morning. As at many pho shops, the cooks worked at a station on the sidewalk, and she found a stool between two local diners. Some diners added chili peppers soaked in vinegar to their bowls.

Andrea Nguyen, writing in Saveur, describes pho in Vietnam as "mostly a breakfast food," a hot, aromatic soup eaten to start the day, and notes that pho shops are found in city alleyways, between village storefronts and along rural lanes.

At Pho Gia Truyen, in Hanoi's Old Quarter, she found an unadorned storefront with a work station on the sidewalk staffed by cooks, as at many pho shops; she sat on a stool between two local diners, who added vinegar-soaked chiles to their bowls. Just before the broth is ladled in, she writes, the cook may add meat, onions, cilantro, scallions and black pepper. In 2023, Hanoi had nearly 700 food establishments serving pho, most of the popular ones in the Ba Dinh, Hoan Kiem and Hai Ba Trung districts.

The broth is the most important part of Hanoi pho.

Cooks simmer bones and meat in a big pot. They add ginger, onions and spices. The broth smells of spices.

In Hanoi, cooks care most about the broth, so it stays clear and simple. Some street sellers will not even add fresh herbs, because they say herbs would hide its flavor.

The broth is simmered with beef bones and meat, then flavored with shallots, ginger, salt and spices such as star anise, cloves, cinnamon and cardamom. Andrea Nguyen charred the shallots and ginger first. Two Hanoi chefs told her they season with salt while it simmers and add fish sauce only at the end.

Britannica describes Hanoi pho as broth-centered, noting that some street vendors refuse to add herbs because doing so would dilute the flavor. The broth is usually built from beef and bolstered with spices such as star anise, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom or coriander, sometimes with fish sauce; Nguyen lists shallots, ginger, fish sauce, salt, black cardamom, fennel, cassia, star anise and cloves.

Methods vary by cook. Chefs at a Hanoi hotel restaurant told Nguyen they salt the broth while it simmers and add fish sauce only at the end; their broth, she wrote, was clean and balanced. Her own version simmered bones and meat with charred, peeled shallots and ginger and toasted spices, then strained the broth before seasoning. Nguyen saw a market vendor add MSG to each bowl; her cousin, a Hanoi home cook, told her she uses dried sea worms instead to give the broth natural savory sweetness.

First, soft rice noodles go in the bowl.

Then come thin slices of beef, onions and green herbs. Last, the cook pours in the hot broth. Slurp!

A bowl of pho is built in layers. Rice noodles are softened and placed in the bowl, then topped with thin slices of beef, onion, scallions, cilantro and black pepper. Finally, the hot broth is ladled over the top.

Beef is the most common meat, but pho can also be made with chicken. Northern pho is simple. In southern Vietnam, cooks may add more toppings, such as bean sprouts and Thai basil.

Britannica lists beef, usually thinly sliced, as pho's most common protein, with tendon or tripe sometimes used, and notes versions with chicken, fish, pork or tofu. Nguyen built her own northern-style bowl this way: rice noodles softened in water, beef laid on top, then onion, scallions, cilantro and black pepper, with the broth ladled over last.

Regional differences grew after 1954, when many northerners moved south bringing pho with them. In the south, and especially in Saigon, cooks experimented: Chinese rock sugar and white radish became staples, and Thai basil, fermented bean paste and bean sprouts could be added. Nguyen writes that most pho shops outside Vietnam serve the southern style, while Britannica calls pho made in Hanoi the most quintessential version.

People in Hanoi are proud of their pho.

Vietnam has named Hanoi pho a special part of its heritage. That means people want to keep the recipes and skills alive.

Pho is often called Vietnam's national dish, and the country celebrates a "Day of Pho" on December 12.

In late 2023, Hanoi's Department of Culture and Sports began preparing a request to have Hanoi pho recognized as heritage. By August 2024, Vietnam's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism had listed Hanoi-style pho as national intangible cultural heritage. Intangible heritage means skills and traditions, like cooking, rather than buildings.

Britannica describes pho as considered Vietnam's national dish, celebrated with a national Day of Pho on December 12. In November 2023, the director of Hanoi's Department of Culture and Sports announced that the department was compiling a dossier to have the city's pho-cooking recognized as national intangible cultural heritage, and that Hanoi planned to work with Nam Dinh province and other localities toward a UNESCO application.

By August 2024 the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism had recognized Hanoi-styled pho as national intangible cultural heritage, alongside the craft of tailoring the ao dai in Hue. Intangible cultural heritage covers living practices and knowledge, such as recipes and techniques passed between generations, rather than monuments. The sources opened for this topic do not say whether a UNESCO nomination has been made.