When he was 18 years old, Co Van Tuyen from Van Cu village of Dong Son commune in Nam Truc district in Nam Dinh province left his home village for Hanoi, where he worked as an assistant to his uncle Co Nhu Chieu at Chieu’s pho shop at No 48 Hang Dong street.

After two years of working there, Tuyen decided to leave and run a shop of his own on Tran Duy Hung street.

There was a special client among the large custom, a beautiful girl from Cot village in Cau Giay district, Hanoi. She became a pho "addict". 

“When we became lovers, I told her everything about me, that I left my hometown for Hanoi with empty hands, but I have a job, I can work hard and I can make very delicious pho, though I am still very young,” he recalled

Admiring the man's talent and diligence, the girl accepted to become his wife, and the couple vowed to develop their business of selling pho.

The business prospered. In 1998, Tuyen opened four more Co Tuyen Pho Shops on Duy Tan, Nguyen Khang, Truong Lam and Sai Dong streets. Each shop could sell 70-80 kilograms of noodles a day. On average, one kilogram of noodles was used to make six bowls of pho.

The secret of making pho

According to Co Viet Hung, an artisan in Van Cu Village who has been making pho for seven decades, Van Cu Village’s pho is still a favorite in the magnificent capital city amid many other dishes because it has specific flavor of its own.

“You need to be very careful in each stage of the processing. Bones and meat must be washed carefully and soaked in water for 3-4 hours. Making broth is a very important step. When simmering bone and boiling beef, you need to skim off the foam from the bones and ripple the broth,” he said. 

Tuyen said everyone has to follow all the steps handed down by the previous generations and must not skip any step, from the bone and meat preliminary treatment to spice use.

Tuyen stressed that the soul of Nam Dinh pho lies in the broth. Van Cu villagers have kept the secret that has helped them choose fresh high-quality meat and pretreat bones to remove bad odor. Bones need to be simmered for a certain number of hours to obtain the best broth after the bones are grilled with fragrant spices.

Tuyen revealed that in the pot of broth, there are over 10 herbs and spices. Everyone knows the ingredients needed to make a bowl of pho. However, not all of them know how much to use.

One of the special elements of Nam Dinh’s pho is salt. It must be raw salt, big particles from Hai Hau sea.

“There are only two salt making areas in Vietnam where farmers dry salt on sand. One of them is the ancient salt field in Hai Ly commune in Hai Hau district. Nam Dinh salt has a special taste and the sulphur concentration is lower,” said Le Thi Thiet, chair of the Nam Dinh Culinary Culture Association.

As broth is the heart of Nam Dinh pho, chefs have to stay up all night to keep watch over the simmering to be sure that the broth is fatty, but not greasy.

When starting to eat, diners can sip a spoonful of broth to wake up their senses, so you can smell the aroma of the broth. You can eat pho with vinegar or chili sauce, depending on taste.

In winter, the aroma and heat of pho will awaken all the senses, especially in the morning, bringing freshness to a new day.

Vu Lua -  Lam Giang