Phở, properly

Where it comes from

Phở, said roughly as "fuh", is a bowl of flat rice noodles and thinly sliced meat in a clear, spiced broth. It began as street food in northern Vietnam around a century ago and went on to become the national dish.

The broth is the dish

Everything rests on the broth. Beef bones simmer for hours with onion and ginger charred over a flame, plus star anise, cinnamon, cloves and coriander seed. The char gives depth; the spices give the scent you notice before the bowl lands. It is skimmed constantly so it stays clear. Ours goes for more than twenty-four hours.

Phở bò is the original: that beef broth over noodles, with beef sliced thin and rare so it cooks in the bowl, or braised until soft. Phở gà swaps in poached chicken and a lighter broth.

North and south

Northern phở is restrained: clear broth, a little chilli and lime, not much else. Southern phở is sweeter and busier, with a heap of beansprouts and basil and sauces on the table. Neither is wrong. Our bowls lean northern in the broth and southern in the herb plate.

How to eat it

Taste the broth first, on its own. Then tear the herbs and add them a little at a time. Squeeze the lime, add chilli to taste. If you want hoisin, the sweet brown sauce, put it in a small dish and dip the meat rather than stirring it in. Chopsticks for noodles, spoon for broth, and it is fine to lift the bowl at the end.

The spicy cousin

Bún bò Huế is the other great beef noodle soup, from Huế in the middle of the country. The broth is built on beef and pork bones with a lot of lemongrass and a slick of chilli oil that turns it orange. The noodles are thick and round. It is spicier and louder than phở, and people who prefer it tend to prefer it fiercely.