April 6, 2015 Comments (2) Adventure, Destinations, Food & Thoughts, How To, Vietnam

Got Banh Pho? Making Vietnamese Pho Noodles

Pho Vietnamese Noodle Soup

Have you ever stopped to wonder how they make the noodles for your Pho noodle soup? That question had never crossed my mind until my visit to Nha Trang, Vietnam.

For those who don’t know, Pho is a Vietnamese soup containing rice noodles and meat. It is often served with basil, bean sprouts, green onions, and lemon and Hoisin sauce are added to taste (unless you are like my husband and add half the jar of Hoisin sauce – in that case it really isn’t Pho anymore but some form of Hoisin soup). You can get different types of Pho and various combinations, but the basic types are:

  • Pho Dac Biet: Pho with everything in it
  • Pho Tai: Pho with thinly sliced beef
  • Pho Sach: Pho with tripe
  • Pho Bo Vo Vien: Pho with beef meatballs
  • Pho Ga: Pho with chicken
  • Pho Bo Sate: Pho with beef in a sate broth
  • Pho Ga Sate: Pho with chicken in a sate broth

Pho Vietnamese Noodle Soup

Pho Vietnamese Noodle Soup

Pho Vietnamese Noodle Soup

Pho Vietnamese Noodle Soup

Like I said before, I never really thought about how the rice noodles are made – just more concerned with the type of Pho I was going to order and whether the broth is going to be flavorful and free of MSG. When you are making Pho, it usually takes about 15 seconds to cook the noodles (assuming they have been presoaked) – just put them in boiling water to soften, throw them in the bowl and add the broth. Simple enough. But there’s actually a whole other process that is invisible to us Pho eaters before we can even boil the noodles to eat our favorite Vietnamese Pho noodle soup!

Making Vietnamese Pho Noodles

Step 1: rice grains are soaked in water for a long period of time to soften.

Step 2: once soft enough, the rice is ground up into a batter. Traditionally the rice is not mixed with any other flour, but now it is common for people to add tapioca starch to make it more chewy and flexible.

Step 3: the batter is then heated directly onto the drying racks (you can see the fire provides a constant source of heat).  Here’s a video that helps that shows you the art of making banh Pho:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nha Trang Vietnam Banh Pho Factory

 

Nha Trang Vietnam Banh Pho Factory

Nha Trang Vietnam Banh Pho Factory

Step 4: the racks are placed out in the sun to dry.

Nha Trang Vietnam Banh Pho Factory

Nha Trang Vietnam Banh Pho Factory

Nha Trang Vietnam Banh Pho Factory

Nha Trang Vietnam Banh Pho Factory

Nha Trang Vietnam Banh Pho Factory

Step 5: a machine is then used to cut the dried rice paper into noodles.

Nha Trang Vietnam Banh Pho Factory

We were told that the factory produces all the Pho noodles for the City of Nha Trang, which is a lot of noodles. I have to say, visiting the factory makes me appreciate my Pho noodles that much more.

Pho Vietnamese Noodle Soup

Joanie

I love food and I love to shop.As a foodie, food is often the focal point of my travels and I am always trying to add to my culinary experiences by finding restaurants that offer dishes from the region I am visiting.Also, my weakness for shopping often finds me bringing either an extra backpack or empty hockey bag (they are lighter and have wheels) on my trips because I want to bring home what I buy.I remember one time when I was coming back from Australia, the Canadian Customs Agent was shocked from how much I spent and he told me he has never seen anyone spend as much in Australia as I had (all those UGG boots add up)!

These stories and adventures give me something to smile about everyday, I hope that it brings you a little something too.

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2 Responses to Got Banh Pho? Making Vietnamese Pho Noodles

  1. Hi Joanie,

    Super cool!

    I never had Pho despite living in Nam for 3 months. Crazy, right?

    I was all caught up on Morning Glory.

    Had it daily lol.

    Thanks for sharing!

    Tweeting from Bali.

    Ryan
    Ryan Biddulph recently posted…Visit the Blogging from Paradise Library on AmazonMy Profile

    • Joanie says:

      What??? How can you not eat pho while living in Vietnam? Lol. That’s hilarious. There is a lot of amazing food in Vietnam, so I really can’t blame you :)

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