Although dealing with her own hecticwork day, the time it takes for Lai Hien Minh to search for a seat inthe crowded Pho Lanh shop on Nui Truc Street during the lunch rush doesnothing to convince her to leave for another restaurant with fewercustomers.
"To have a hot bowl of good quality pho (beef noodle soup) likethis, squeezing into this shop is not a problem for me. Traditional phobo Nam Dinh (noodle soup, a speciality of Nam Dinh province) has beenmy favourite ever since it became a familiar trademark to gastronomesin Hanoi nearly 10 years ago," she says.
It seems that Vu Minh Lanh, the restaurant owner, has not had aday to relax in the entire 15 years his shop has been open. It has beencrowded with customers ever since the doors opened in 1995.
"Although the dish originated in our village it was unable tofully develop there because the people had very low incomes; therewasn’t a high demand for this type of food, which was relativelyexpensive. Consequently, many of us have had to set up businessesoutside of our homeland," says Lanh.
Lanh left Giao Cu Village, Nam Truc District in Nam Dinh for Hanoiyears ago to take over the pho business his grandfather and father tookgreat pains to establish in the 1950s.
Although Hanoi has long been famous for a variety of photrademarks, such as Pho Thin, Pho Bat Dan and Pho Ly Quoc Su,traditional pho Nam Dinh has managed to successfully gain a significantfoothold in the capital.
Nowadays, Hanoi is overwhelmed with numerous pho bo Nam Dinhshops, some of which are throughout in all the city such as the NgocVuong chain, the Pho Lanh shop on Nui Truc Street and Co Dang shop onHoang Quoc Viet Street. It was young people from the current generationwho made the food so popular that these days it can be found onvirtually every street corner in Hanoi.
According to many elders in Nam Dinh, there is no specificevidence of where this world famous Vietnamese dish was born. However,it has been established that Co Huu Vang was the first villager fromthe province to introduce an ambulatory noodle soup concession stand toHanoi in the 1930s.
One of the village elders, 80 year old Phan Dang, sold pho on HangTrong Street in 1942 but then returned to Nam Dinh, only to return tothe capital in 1953 to open a noodle soup shop on Lan Ong Street. Nowhis family owns four shops and two rice noodle houses.
Another elder, Co Hung, set the record of selling 3,000 bowls ofrice noodle per day in the 1960s. His family owned five noodle housescalled Pho Hung in different locations around Hanoi.
In 1997, when the market economy bloomed nationwide, Van Cu andGiao Cu villagers left their homes for the big cities armed with goodluck ‘amulets’ of pho to earn their livings.
Wherever they travelled, a wave of pho bo followed. Hanoi is amongthe many cities that has been greatly influenced by this traditionaldish.
Soup makers have managed to hang on to the food making secretsthat were passed down from previous generations. However, they havealso altered the traditional recipes to suit eaters’ tastes indifferent areas.
Lanh’s fellow-countryman Vu Ngoc Vuong has his own strongattachments to this trade, which was handed down to him from twoprevious generations. The success and reputation of his family’scuisine helped him to develop a series of three restaurants in Hanoiand one in HCM City.
Ngoc Vuong restaurants welcome large numbers of customerseveryday. Although they are open all day, the restaurants are the mostcrowded in the morning. Each one typically sells more than 1,000 bowlsof noodle soup per day.
However, the positions of these age-old traditional shops arebeing threatened by a lot of new business models, such as Pho 24 or PhoVuong and even copycat pho Nam Dinh shops.
Families with many members involved in the trade have held severalmeetings to discuss measures to affirm quality as well as the cultureof traditional pho Nam Dinh.
In Hanoi, a land famous in its own right for its traditional pho,this speciality of Nam Dinh province has won the favour of many locals./.
"To have a hot bowl of good quality pho (beef noodle soup) likethis, squeezing into this shop is not a problem for me. Traditional phobo Nam Dinh (noodle soup, a speciality of Nam Dinh province) has beenmy favourite ever since it became a familiar trademark to gastronomesin Hanoi nearly 10 years ago," she says.
It seems that Vu Minh Lanh, the restaurant owner, has not had aday to relax in the entire 15 years his shop has been open. It has beencrowded with customers ever since the doors opened in 1995.
"Although the dish originated in our village it was unable tofully develop there because the people had very low incomes; therewasn’t a high demand for this type of food, which was relativelyexpensive. Consequently, many of us have had to set up businessesoutside of our homeland," says Lanh.
Lanh left Giao Cu Village, Nam Truc District in Nam Dinh for Hanoiyears ago to take over the pho business his grandfather and father tookgreat pains to establish in the 1950s.
Although Hanoi has long been famous for a variety of photrademarks, such as Pho Thin, Pho Bat Dan and Pho Ly Quoc Su,traditional pho Nam Dinh has managed to successfully gain a significantfoothold in the capital.
Nowadays, Hanoi is overwhelmed with numerous pho bo Nam Dinhshops, some of which are throughout in all the city such as the NgocVuong chain, the Pho Lanh shop on Nui Truc Street and Co Dang shop onHoang Quoc Viet Street. It was young people from the current generationwho made the food so popular that these days it can be found onvirtually every street corner in Hanoi.
According to many elders in Nam Dinh, there is no specificevidence of where this world famous Vietnamese dish was born. However,it has been established that Co Huu Vang was the first villager fromthe province to introduce an ambulatory noodle soup concession stand toHanoi in the 1930s.
One of the village elders, 80 year old Phan Dang, sold pho on HangTrong Street in 1942 but then returned to Nam Dinh, only to return tothe capital in 1953 to open a noodle soup shop on Lan Ong Street. Nowhis family owns four shops and two rice noodle houses.
Another elder, Co Hung, set the record of selling 3,000 bowls ofrice noodle per day in the 1960s. His family owned five noodle housescalled Pho Hung in different locations around Hanoi.
In 1997, when the market economy bloomed nationwide, Van Cu andGiao Cu villagers left their homes for the big cities armed with goodluck ‘amulets’ of pho to earn their livings.
Wherever they travelled, a wave of pho bo followed. Hanoi is amongthe many cities that has been greatly influenced by this traditionaldish.
Soup makers have managed to hang on to the food making secretsthat were passed down from previous generations. However, they havealso altered the traditional recipes to suit eaters’ tastes indifferent areas.
Lanh’s fellow-countryman Vu Ngoc Vuong has his own strongattachments to this trade, which was handed down to him from twoprevious generations. The success and reputation of his family’scuisine helped him to develop a series of three restaurants in Hanoiand one in HCM City.
Ngoc Vuong restaurants welcome large numbers of customerseveryday. Although they are open all day, the restaurants are the mostcrowded in the morning. Each one typically sells more than 1,000 bowlsof noodle soup per day.
However, the positions of these age-old traditional shops arebeing threatened by a lot of new business models, such as Pho 24 or PhoVuong and even copycat pho Nam Dinh shops.
Families with many members involved in the trade have held severalmeetings to discuss measures to affirm quality as well as the cultureof traditional pho Nam Dinh.
In Hanoi, a land famous in its own right for its traditional pho,this speciality of Nam Dinh province has won the favour of many locals./.
