A hot bowl of phở in the market at Dong Van

Phở is breakfast in Vietnam. The word at once conveys a form of noodles, a bowl of soup, and the breakfast itself at which the soup is consumed. It is the national dish, it is sustaining, and it is very delicious - when well made. Essentially it is a consommé: stock with the ingredients as separate entities within the dish. The name of the dish is given by the fact that the main ingredient is a form of noodles called phở. (The word is pronounced as though you were asking of a coat: "Is that made of fur?") Noodles come in many shapes and sizes although mostly white or yellow, and flat or round.

The noodles come as a rather glutinous mass and have to be teased out into separate strands

This type are white and flattish, often about half an inch wide, although, as they are normally hand made, this varies considerably. They are confected from rice, and come to the user as a rather unprepossessing ready cooked glutinous heap.

When asking for one's breakfast a second word follows to indicate the type of meat that will be added to the stock. By far the most most common is chicken and beef, but many animals are so used, as are fish and shell-fish. So the literal translation would be for example: beef noodles or chicken noodles. It is the preparation of the stock that is crucial and the following description is about beef.

Cracking open the bones ready for making the stock

The preparation starts, 18 hours before the meal is ready, with the simmering of beef bones. The bones are first cracked open with an axe to allow the marrow to mix freely in the water of a large vat where they are brought to the boil, and then kept gently cooking, watched by the chef who skims any scum that rises to the surface and tops up the water as necessary.

After some 15 or 16 hours the water has various "Chinese Medicines" added to it. These are mostly spices we would associate with the Far East: anise, cinnamon, peppers, and a range of leaves and roots less familiar and which defy translation as there are no English equivalent words.

This long slow process is what makes the meal. If the stock is well prepared, the food is good. Like much Oriental cooking all the work is in this preparation, the actual final heating is rapid in the extreme and to this rule phở is no exception. When the stock has reached the desired flavour it is kept hot in a pot near where it is to be served. When required, a ladle shaped sieve is loaded with a portion of noodles, this is then dipped for 4 or 5 seconds into the stock and poured into a bowl.

Stock being added to the bowls of noodles and herbs

Previously beef has been sliced in see-through slivers and these too are placed in a ladle and dipped into the stock for rather longer, maybe some 10 seconds. The beef used is normally fillet steak which in Vietnam costs no more than other cuts as Vietnamese taste prefers cuts with stronger flavour. The beef is added to the noodles and a ladle of the stock added to the bowl together with a handful of freshly chopped herbs. The size of the bowl varies but they often have a capacity of up to about half a litre. Chilli, pepper, salt and monosodium glutamate are added before serving or afterwards by the breakfaster. Breakfast restaurants may serve a range of noodles and have a choice of meats, but little else is sold at the same establishment for the Vietnamese are persuaded, as we used to be, that you can only do one dish properly and a Jack of all trades is not the person to provide the best food.

Breakfast is served to four customers.

For drinks there are usually some of the soft tinned variety and for the men vodka and beer are normally available. However, most items can be brought to you from neighbouring shops if you so wish. Chilli sauce, often made especially by the cafe, is provided on tables along with limes ready cut open, and freshly cut and bottled garlic.

This is breakfast for many millions of Vietnamese every morning - even when the temperature, at 5am, is above 35 degrees. Everywhere you go in Vietnam, when you see the sign Phở, now you will know that breakfast is being served. The other very common word is Cơm, and often the two words are seen together, the word Cơm (meaning rice) shows that a main meal is served - Phở Cơm shows that food is served all day, but that is a whole other story.

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