Hey everyone hope you're having an amazing day! It's Mark Wiens I'm in Hanoi This is the largest city in Northern Vietnam and the capital of which is easily the most famous and one of the most popular dishes throughout the entire country of Vietnam and the entire world. Today we're meeting up with my friend Qua from Hanoi Food. He is a local food expert. He's eaten almost all of the food across Hanoi and he's taking you and I on an ultimate fun tour to eat some of the most legendary and the best Bowls Of Pho in the entire city.

And as we eat, I'll be telling you the very interesting story of Pho and how it became so popular around the world. It's going to be an amazing day of Vietnamese food and I Cannot wait to share all of the pho action coming up for you right now in this video. Yes, good morning from Hanoi So happy to be back in this city! I was here I Think it's probably been eight or nine years since my last trip to Hanoi and I Loved the food and of course, the pho here is incredible, but about fun. It was invented recently in the late 19th century or the early 20th century.

Some of the details are not fully clear, but it's a relatively new invention of Vietnamese food. And yet now it is the most worldwide famous Vietnamese dish. And in Vietnam it's probably one of the most popular dishes. You'll see it on almost every single corner, from street food to restaurant and throughout the entire country.

So being a recent addition to the entire repertoire of Vietnamese food, how did it become so famous and become so recognizable? Well, we're going to learn. I'm going to tell you the entire story and we're gonna learn about the history of uh in this video. But first, let's go eat our first ball! We are hanging out today with KOA from Hanai Food KOA Thank you. Very nice to meet you.

nice to meet you. How long have you been making videos about three or four years? Oh okay, okay so he is an expert of the food in Hanoi and so we are in very good hands. Where's the first place that we are starting? Uh, today? We uh, this one. Mike Yes, I Can smell the aroma of the broth just filling this entire intersection.

We're here early in the morning at 6 30 a.m They're just now starting to get busy I Think they've just opened, but yeah already people are starting to just pour in for a bowl of breakfast. Pho is unique in that it is a single bone broth. so if it's beef, it's just only from the bones of the beef and it's so clean, so pure you could just see your Aroma coming out of there. the cinnamon and star anise.

Aroma We got what I I think is kind of a mixture of the beef they have I think that's what they're famous for is two types of beef. It's that kind of boiled beef already which is pretty fatty and very thinly sliced. plus some of the red meat beef which she just kind of quickly blanches in the broth and then adds to the top of your bowl. One of the things that you'll notice here is not only the broth but the noodles which they said are handmade.

The noodles are high quality I just want to taste that broth first because the broth is really one of the foundations of all bowls of uh not sweet? Yes, yes, but natural sweetness. I think I think the sweetness is coming from the bone from the the marrow that's just seeped out into the broth. Oh yeah, very good, very good. Wow, that's incredible.

That's so good. Yeah Okay so here we go. that mixture of beef. but before I want to taste the taste the noodles next.

Mmm yeah. the noodles taste very fresh. You can tell that they're they're quality noodles. Okay I'm gonna do a little bit of seasoning yeah pepper, okay chilies.

and then you need to have a squeeze of lime juice. Look at how fatty this thin sliced beef is. This is one of their Specialties here. really thin sliced beef with the fat on it.

Well Oh wow, Oh the fatty beef. It's so good. You can really taste the flavor of the fat of that beef. It's so beefy, so oily, so much flavor.

Oh man and it melts in your mouth. Maybe try a little bit of this chili? Josh I Love how they add on a few, just whole green onions. Okay, wow, so crispy and so much flavor that comes out of it. But one of the things about Northern Vietnamese is that they use less herbs and less seasonings than other parts of Vietnam.

Oh man, that was just unbelievably satisfying. Our first bowl of Pho today on this ultimate Pho tour and they said they've been open here in this same place since 1982. before we head to our next bowl of a quick history about pho and again, it just dates back it was invented in the late 19th century or the early 20th century. There's not an exact detail of how far was invented or how it came about, even how it got its name.

But one thing is pretty certain is that it originates from Namdin province which is about a hundred kilometers south of Hanoi, but still in Northern Vietnam And as this story goes locally, there was a dish there made with water buffalo and herbs and rice vermicelli. but in 1898 French colonists started a textile plant in Namdin and the locals in the area saw an opportunity and one of the theories is that before the French were in Vietnam Buffalo was very common and Buffalos were used for the rice, paddy fields and Buffalos were commonly eaten. But when French Colonists came game they started promoting beef and the eating of beef and so actually they would eat beef. but they'd often discard the bones and so locals in the area in the village would take the bones, boil them into a broth using those bones, letting the marrow come out into a rich bone marrow broth, using some of the discarded carts and making something so beautiful from them.

Then in 1898 there was a textile plant which was set up in Namdin and locals from the area started boiling the bones started serving a simple soup with the bone broth and noodles and some herbs. It continued to be served, especially consumed by textile workers by construction workers in the area. But then things expanded and things changed and moved and Hanoi soon became the capital and the center of Pho in Vietnam. But we'll find out more about that after we go eat our next ball.

Let's go. What is the next? The next spot. Ah, the next part is one of the most famous in Vietnam and everyone in the world knows. So here we are welcome to Fatin This is one of the most legendary fur shops in all of Hanoi Actually maybe one of the most famous Pho shops in all of Vietnam And oh man, the steam coming from.

Oh they just opened up the pot right now. That broth is just unbelievable and it looks like they just continuously have to keep mixing the broth from the beef boiling to the marrow to the like, mixing the ratio of fatty oiliness to the flavor to just get it Perfect. They've mastered the art of that stock. Oh man, we got here at a perfect time.

They were just mixing some of that broth but you can just immediately tell how the broth is the king. Here they have these massive literal like hot tub sized wool soup drops are just flying all over the place but hot tub sized pot of broth which they then mix and match. You can tell that this pot is full of more kind of a richer bone marrow broth and then the master stock all mixing together getting that perfect ratio. The Aromas out of control.

This place is always packed. There's just steams and noodles and broths just boiling all over the place. Oh I Can't wait to taste this! Yeah, We are sitting down for our second bowl of Pho and you can immediately see that this is a totally different style of the beef. Smells totally different, the broth smells totally different, and they're just action-packed and so busy.

And you can see that the beef. uh at the other place we went to they cook the beef, they boil the beef. but here the beef is already cooked. Here's a very different from the first one.

A lot of onion. You know a lot of onion. Yes yes it is a special here. and I think also here the beef is.

Instead of being boiled, blanched in the broth, it's actually stir-fried Yes, they stir fry. They stir fry the beef in the back, then bring it to the front and when they make it, then they blanch the noodles. Then they put it to your bowl. Then they add on a big handful of the stir-fried beef and a huge handful an over heaping handful of mostly green onions which are sliced in a really unique way.

kind of like like diagonally cut to bring out their flavor. And then the broth goes on. Wow Have you tried the broth first? Hmm oh oh wow. It has more of a Smoky you taste the stir fry.

yeah stir fry flavor. The stir frying of the beef really gives it a a different taste from the other version that we had. It's like it's a more strong taste here. We've got the thin noodles.

We've got all that beef, that beef on top. mmm what's up? Very soft, yeah the seasonings. I'll try a little bit of the chili sauce. Wow wow.

A little bit of a spice and a little bit of extra saltiness I think in that chili sauce. something else unique on the table we have here. What is this got? I Usually use this one and why is when you come here? When you come here. Yeah so it's boiled egg.

you can. You can eat the just blanch only just just uh cooked in the hot broth and you take the whole the whole yolk in one bite. Yes yes, what a move. One bite andisha amazing.

Yeah that just liquefies you. almost cannot tell where the yolk ends in the broth starts. It just all just just completely liquefies in your mouth. So most most Vietnamese people would add a little bit of fish sauce fresh chilies as well if you want to bump up the spice level, these are actually quite spicy.

We can again try our broth. Oh yeah, all those fresh chilies are amazing. and then with that little bit of fish sauce it does kind of like. Oddly even though the fish sauce is salty, you kind of like rounds it out rounds out the flavor.

The fried dough sticks: This is traditional like the fried dough sticks and you put it into your you put it into your brows, you can put it into your broth into your foot, soak it, let it absorb, and you uh, put it down to the waiter so that it absorbs all the broth and it became sharp this weekend. Shut up. Okay yeah, um, it's still crispy and you can taste the flavor of the oil, but it's absorbed that broth at the same time. Oh yeah, very good.

That was an outstanding bowl of Pho and we still have a lot more fun to eat including some chicken Pho which also has a unique story of how chicken Pho became popular. Well, they even have more seating down here. But an extremely popular place that was absolutely delicious. That's a bowl of pho you have to eat when you're in Hanoi Foreign.

This place is extremely popular, so popular and famous in fact that they're actually only open in the morning for breakfast. and we got here right as they're about to sell out. and unfortunately they said they have beef cooked in wine sauce but they're sold out of it already for the day. It's like just 9 30 I think uh.

but instead we're gonna get the beef. and another famous one that they have is beef with uh, the raw beef and she just kind of has that minced up and then smashes it and then puts it into your bowl. They do everything out here on the sidewalk production, boiling the noodles, then into the bowl. they add on herbs.

there's coriander, there's green onions, and then onions. onions. Yeah, I don't think we've had onions yet in the versions we've had. and then that broth.

Oh man, you can see the bones in that broth. They look so rich. While we're waiting for our Pho, we can continue with the story of uh, and then how it spread throughout Vietnam and how it's spread throughout the world. but we are still in Namdin and at that time uh, the local villagers had found a way to turn the discarded beef bones into something extraordinary with the broth.

It started to become an extremely popular meal for locals in the area and especially for the textile workers and construction workers. But later on a lot of the construction workers then shifted to Hanoi to work on the Long Bien Bridge Project. With that a lot of the workforce moved to Hanoi and this region and people who were vending who are selling Pho or the beef noodle soup then transferred to Hanoi to start selling it and so it quickly quickly spread to Hanoi and started to adapt to the local taste there. and from what I was also reading is that even a lot of the original vendors in Namdin Province they moved and their families moved here to Hanoi and people began to make a good living making Pho and selling it to construction workers as well as people from Hanoi coming to enjoy the flavor of and so soon it started to spread throughout the entire city and then from Hanoi it started to spread throughout the entire country to the South to the central regions of Vietnam while the original version is still from Namdin Province People do say that the original taste is also from Hanoi because so many of the families from Namdin moved and relocated to Hanoi.

But there's still more to the story which you're not going to want to miss. but let's try this amazing bowl of pho first so they do have a full dining room, but we got some seats here on the sidewalk and here. Oh thank you very much! I'm gonna try that. Try that broth first.

Um wow. Sweet from Bronx Yes yes, you immediately taste the sweetness from the bone. Yeah! I Can taste the ginger and the broth. Oh that broth is amazing and you can see that all that beef remains Raw on the inside there and just slightly cooked from the from the scalding broth on the outside.

The noodles. oh this is happiness right here. Absolute happiness. I Want to try that raw beef? Hmm Oh wow.

The noodles have a little bit more of a stretchy texture to them, you can taste the freshness and that beef is so fragrant. This is about as happy as you can be in. Hanoi It is time to do some seasoning. A little chilies go in.

Add in a dough stick as well. You can crunch this in for some extra texture, some extra hardiness, let it absorb. Oh yes, these chilies. These chilies actually give some really good.

Heat I Love the chili sauce. There's always a red chili sauce as well as fresh chilies. and as much as I love the chili sauce I think I Like just the fresh chilies. even better because they don't alter the taste of the broth.

That being said, let's try the chili sauce I think I Just found a way you squeeze it directly onto your bite. That way you don't alter the flavor of your broth. Oh chili sauce is great. A little bit salty and kind of like a smoky chili flavor.

This is absolute happiness in Hanoi This is like pho at its finest. A loss? Oh yes, Yes! I'm addicted and just and just wanted to let you know that I wouldn't want to ever disrespect the broth or any of these restaurants. That's why I'm just using it at the end here. But I do have a chili addiction.

so just using it at the end here to just give it a boost of heat. Wow! Oh yeah. um I'm feeling very hot burning my eyes. Yeah, the ball here.

Just wanted to mention that ghost chili smoked ghost chicken. It's burning a little bit. This is one of my favorite seasonings. Uh I use it on I mean I I travel with it and use it when I need an extra boost of heat that wasn't cool I I can I can eat a lot of chili but when I when I am when I try to, it's very hot.

it is hot. Yes yeah, but it's a good. It's a good like well-rounded flavor and I use it on just about everything. Foreign story continues and it was in 1954 when the French Colonial period ended in Vietnam and it was divided in two and millions of people from North moved to South and other parts of Vietnam bringing with them PHA And as they brought with them Pho it adapted to the local culture and the local palette and changed in flavor.

And so that's why there's so many different versions and so many different tastes of that you can find. For instance, in Saigon, you'll find that the pho is often a little sweeter, maybe a little more robust, uses more spices, maybe more herbs and toppings that you can add in and more seasonings, whereas in Hanoi it Still Remains more pure and more about strictly about that broth and the just natural flavor of those beef bones. But let's continue to the next place. So apparently it was in 1939.

I Think beef was at an all-time high for sale, and the government decided they wanted to try to reduce the amount of beef being sold and so they reduced beef being sold on a number of days per week. and so during that time instead of using Beef Hanoians then decided to start making chicken. Hello, start making Pho with chicken. We are the middle of Ocean Street in Hanoi and our street name is and so we're here just as they are opening.

Uh, they open at 5. PM In the evening they have a pile, just a pile of the boiled chickens ready to go. and by the way, we're eating which is chicken fun next and they're kind of just partying them out. They all have all the different pieces, all the different gizzards, the ovary eggs.

They're parting out the chicken for the far. Rush This evening. this place is vibrant. It's colorful, it's aromatic.

It's on the side of the street. It's a beautiful place. I Cannot wait to try our first bowl of chicken Pho today. In the back there, she's boiling the chicken soup and just like beef.

I Believe that Chicken Fa uses only chicken bones and chicken parts and chicken skin to make the broth and you can see her. uh, there's some blood cubes floating on top and there's chicken heads bobbing around on the surface. Work for the family. Now are you ready? Yes.

Sitting down for our first bowl of Faga Yeah. Chicken. oh man. and what a setup.

They have everything going on. She adds in herbs, she adds in that broth, you can see that yellow oil from the chicken skin and we got it with uh, the full. The full works the chicken chopped up with the skin with the ovary eggs, which is one of the highlights. It's very attractive.

Yes, it is. It's beautiful. I Think it's the most beautiful bowl of chicken five I've ever seen in my life. Oh yeah I Cannot wait to try that broth.

Oh my. God Oh yeah oh that's just like pure condensed chicken. Nah, need a shot. It's like the pure flavor of chicken.

Yeah, Go for those those noodles Now again. Fresh noodles. Um thought. Whenever you see ovary eggs, you have to or oh oh yeah, it keeps on coming.

Oh, they're all attached. This is one of the highlights. Oh that's beautiful. Um, it pops like a little balloon.

Wow. And rather than being yolky and starchy, it's more silky in texture. Oh wow. some.

Lime Leaf Okay Add some chili addiction so it's vinegar. Yeah, vinegar infused with garlic than this one. Oh okay. okay.

suggested that we use a little bit of a okay you add on a little bit of garlic vinegar instead of lime juice because it's more tame. Okay, Oh and look at those pieces of oh yeah, you have to see this chicken. Just the quality, the freshness of the chicken that gives it like a boost of citrus. and then also the garlic.

Uh, the garlic vinegars. It's not too strong, but it has a really nice garlic like kind of Aroma for The Whole Bowl Even though I just added in a little bit, try to bite half. Oh oh the yolk. All you have to see inside.

it kind of has this skin that just kind of pops and then the yolk. It's like a lava chocolate cake on the center except yolk that just oozes out. It's not well done because it is the right. Oh yeah it will be dried.

Also, this is like soft boiled. Yeah yeah oh it's a mix. This is amazing. Yeah, this one.

that's one. of the highlights of the bowl right there. The ovary eggs. Wow.

Spectacular. I Think this is a part of the chicken I've never eaten before chicken, chicken uterus. What is it in in Vietnamese You're kind of like crumbles in your mouth. Oh wow, that's our new chicken part for me.

Do light thing on the pavement? Yeah yes I love it I love it when you when you go in Hano travel in Hanoi a lot of people are eating on the peppermint. Here's a traditional of Hanoi oh really okay. the blood jelly? yeah very juicy. yeah oh yeah.

foreign. as we walk to the final and the last restaurant. I guess there's just kind of one more piece that of the history that I want to share with you and that is that after the end of the Vietnam War many Vietnamese especially from the south moved to the United States uh and then I mean additionally Vietnamese have moved around the world and to France each bringing with them their recipe for Pho and often opening restaurants also serving Pho And so that's how also the spread of has reached around the world. it's become a global food, one of the again, one of the most famous, one of the most widespread, popular Vietnamese foods.

And I think it really is a dish that everybody can enjoy every age group, every generation. and it's a flavor that so many people can appreciate and that's truly why it really is one of the greatest. Vietnamese Foods Where are we now? Yeah, we are staying at Uh London Street London and within the second chicken. Pho And so this place is especially known for dry for I think maybe soup is served on the side? we'll see.

but anyways, they have seating over here on this side, but then the actual restaurant is over on this side. down that down that alley right there. and I think we're gonna have a chance to go see it. Yes yeah, this is the this is the alley into chicken.

Pho Paradise Oh I Love it. Okay okay I think it's cabbage. Incredible jaw-dropping setup of chicken carved perfectly the breast, the thigh meat, the wings, the ovary eggs, and the organs of course. And they have a couple of different things.

you can get it with noodles and the dry noodle chicken Pho but with the sauces. but then they also have a cabbage salad with mint and some other things as well. It all looks incredible. So we have a blanched or poached chicken.

We have all of the organs in a soup. We have the chicken feet jelly chicken feet which have been deboned and then we have the cabbage salad. Okay, cabbage salad. Wow.

it's so crispy and so refreshing and it literally is a perfect balance of sweet and sour. I've never had cabbage that melts in my mouth before. Okay, well that's quite a luxury. The chicken already.

Oh it's so good. Oh the flavor of the Lime Leaf in there. Also this one. the Lime Leaf gives it an incredible yeah.

that incredible fragrance and that texture. Oh it's just gelatinous and you feel kind of like that that bumpy texture of the chicken feet and then a lot of cheering. All right, yes, thank you good you stir that about around. This is the boiled bar blanched chicken and it's been deboned.

Also, this place is incredible. It's like boneless luxury here. Um oh wow. the texture of the chicken.

It has so much like Flavor that comes out with every chew. you have that fragrance of the Lime Leaf The skin is just gelatinous and has so much flavor and the deboning technique. What a what a genius move! Green onions with the chicken and with the the mint. That chicken.

Incredible. Oh yes it's very decent. Oh thank you thank you. It's such a silky texture.

Whoa, you're just gonna. You could. definitely. it would definitely bounce.

Um, they're so tasty. Unbelievable. This is a sensational. another Sensational meal today.

We've got all the organs in here, but here we go. Liver. That's a huge piece of liver. so creamy, such a condensed flavor of chicken.

Oh here it is the Pho special. So we've come to our final bowl of fun. This is something totally different. Totally unique.

A dryfa soup on the side with the noodles with chicken. She sprinkles on some sauces two different sauces I think there's some chicken oil in there and peanuts, garlic and mint on top and so you have to mix it all before you start eating. Oh the noodles underneath look different Also, you gotta really mix let fully hydrate, let it absorb all those sauces. The chicken juices totally different.

Pho Eating experience. Oh wow Oh that's incredible. The noodles just melt in your mouth, you taste the flavor of soy sauce. plus it has this little bit of a sweetness.

plus we've got that mint in there plus the vibrancy of the chicken and the garlic. My taste buds are being blown right now. That is an absolute Harmony in your mouth. don't look like that.

Oh man, they have that recipe down to perfection. Thank you Julia and thank you Claire for taking me on this. This has been the greatest day of fall in my entire life. Where, uh, he runs Hanoi Food YouTube channel and social media.

I'll have his Link in the description box below but he offers the best recommendations for local food when you are in Hanoi and so definitely check out his channel and please also Cry For Me on the Food Channel Yes for sure and again Hanoi is where you'll find the most authentic, the purest pho in Vietnam And to learn about the entire story was really fascinating. uh for me and I hope it was for you as well. And also tomorrow we have another video which is going to include five of the best Vietnamese dishes you have to eat when you're in Hanoi but not Pho So you're going to want to stay tuned and watch that video as well I Want to say a huge thank you for watching this video? Please remember to give it a thumbs up if you enjoyed it. Leave a comment below I'd Love to hear from you and if you're you're not already subscribed.

Make sure you subscribe for lots more food and travel videos. Goodbye from Hanoi and I will see you on the next video foreign.