Celebrating Phở谷歌涂鸦标志标志

Celebrating Phở谷歌涂鸦标志

12 December 2021

Today’s Doodle, illustrated by Hanoi, Vietnam-based guest artist Lucia Pham, honors phở, Vietnam’s national dish that is served as an aromatic soup brimming with savory broth, soft rice noodles, fresh herbs, and thinly sliced meat. On this day in 2018, December 12 was selected as the official day to celebrate Vietnamese phở, in honor of the beloved culinary treasure and the cultural fusion it represents.

What makes phở distinct is a mindful cooking process to achieve multi-layered flavors and a clear broth. From ingredients like roasted ginger, fennel seed, star anise, and cinnamon for the simmered stock, the broth serves as the foundation for aromas and tastes for every palate.

While its exact origins are unknown, most historians think phở was born in northern Vietnam’s Nam Dinh province between the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Some believe that “phở" comes from the word phấn, a rice noodle dish. People started to use beef consommé to make an early predecessor to phở—a simple but very popular noodle soup called xao trau which consisted of buffalo meat cooked in broth and rice vermicelli.

Traditionally, phở is a breakfast dish sold in street food stalls but phở consumption has moved into everyday comfort food. Today, phở is eaten worldwide in countless variations such as phở trộn (dry phở), phở gà (chicken phở), phở cuốn (phở rolls) and many more. Everyone can agree that the noodle dish is a treasured element of Vietnamese heritage. Although current events have slowed the food markets, people are hopeful for their return where phở can be enjoyed as a shared, culinary moment in daily life again.

Here’s to a Vietnamese dish that’s phở-nomenal!