Hanoi Pho: What Goes in the Bowl, How It Began and How to Eat It

Pho is part of everyday life and food culture in Hanoi. In 2024 the folk knowledge behind Hanoi pho was added to Vietnam’s national list of intangible cultural heritage. This guide covers what goes into a bowl, where the dish came from and how people season it at the table.

What is in a bowl of Hanoi pho

A bowl has four parts:

• Noodles. Soft rice noodles called bánh phở, made from ordinary rice.
• Broth. Simmered for a long time from bones: beef bones for beef pho, chicken and pork bones for chicken pho. In Hanoi the broth is usually clear and light rather than heavy.
• Meat. Beef (phở bò) or chicken (phở gà). These two are the traditional kinds.
• Herbs. Spring onion and coriander on top; some shops add other fresh herbs.

There is no single official recipe. The heritage listing describes pho as knowledge held by the families and cooks who make it, with techniques and seasoning secrets passed down through generations. Expect each shop’s broth to taste a little different.

How it began

Historical records place pho in Hanoi in the early 20th century. Between 1907 and 1910 it was sold by street vendors who carried it around the city.

Where the idea came from is still debated. Vietnamese writers have pointed to French beef stew (pot-au-feu), to a Chinese beef and noodle dish, and to a Vietnamese buffalo and noodle dish, xáo trâu. None of these accounts has been settled, and the Nhân Dân newspaper describes pho as the work of many people responding to the conditions of their time.

Why it is listed as national heritage

On 9 August 2024 the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism added “folk knowledge of Hanoi pho” to the national list of intangible cultural heritage (Decision 2328/QĐ-BVHTTDL), following a dossier submitted by the Hanoi People’s Committee. The certificate was handed over on the evening of 29 November 2024, at the opening of the Hanoi Culinary Culture Festival. Nam Định pho was also listed as folk knowledge at around the same time.

The listing is about knowledge and practice, not a single famous shop. Its bearers are the individuals and families who cook pho and keep their methods alive. Hanoi is now leading preparation of a dossier on pho for UNESCO; the work is still at an early stage.

How to eat it

• Season it yourself. Use what is on the table: garlic vinegar, chilli sauce, a squeeze of lime and pepper.
• Try it with quẩy. These fried dough sticks are often eaten with pho.
• Pick beef or chicken. Traditional family shops mostly serve one or the other. Shops run by the same family for more than two generations are found mostly in the Hoàn Kiếm, Ba Đình and Hai Bà Trưng districts.

Local tip Pho shops are everywhere: as of 2023 the city counted nearly 700 of them. There is no official list of the best, and we do not rank shops we have not reviewed ourselves.

Good to know

• If you avoid pork, ask whether the broth of a chicken pho is made with pork bones.