Pho bo is beef noodle soup, rice noodles and beef in a bone broth. In Hanoi bowls come with rare flank, brisket or round at Pho Gia Truyen, or heel muscle at Pho Bo Lam.

Pho first appears in written records in the early 20th century in northern Vietnam, and its modern form emerged between 1900 and 1907 in Nam Dinh province. Hanoi's first fixed pho stands included Cat Tuong on Cau Go Street, and around 1925 a Van Cu villager opened the first Nam Dinh style stand in the city. In 1979 Nguyen Trong Thin began selling pho tai lan at 13 Lo Duc, with the beef stir-fried in hot fat with garlic, onion and chilli.

Where to eat Phở Bò in Hanoi

4 editor picks for Phở Bò in Hanoi, ranked by editorial score. All Hanoi signature dishes · Phở Bò across every city.

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Make it at home

Serves Serves 47 hrIntermediate

Ingredients

  • 2 kg beef bones (knuckle and marrow)
  • 500g brisket
  • 1 large onion, charred
  • 100g ginger, charred and bruised
  • 5 star anise pods
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 5 cloves
  • 3 cardamom pods
  • 2 tbsp fish sauce
  • 1 tbsp rock sugar
  • Salt to taste
  • 400g pho noodles (banh pho), soaked
  • 300g eye-of-round beef, sliced paper-thin
  • Spring onions, coriander, Thai basil, lime, chilli to serve

Method

  1. Char the onion and ginger over an open flame until blackened. Bruise the ginger.
  2. Blanch the beef bones in boiling water for 5 minutes, drain and rinse.
  3. Toast star anise, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom in a dry pan for 1 minute. Tie in a muslin pouch.
  4. Combine bones, brisket, charred onion and ginger, and the spice pouch in 4 L of water. Bring to a bare simmer (not a boil) for 6 hours, skimming foam every 20 minutes.
  5. Remove the brisket at the 90-minute mark and slice thin once cool.
  6. Add fish sauce, rock sugar and salt at the end. Strain.
  7. Soften pho noodles in boiling water for 30 seconds. Divide between bowls.
  8. Top with the sliced rare eye-of-round and the cooked brisket. Ladle the boiling broth over the top to flash-cook the rare beef.
  9. Serve with herbs, lime and chilli at the table.

Editor tip. The broth must barely simmer; a rolling boil clouds it. Skim foam every 20 minutes for the clear Hanoi look.

Common allergens: Gluten (in quay), Soy.