“Pho” named most iconic dish in Vietnam

The New York-based news website Business Insider has singled out the most iconic food to eat in 50 countries worldwide in an article, in which “pho”, a traditional meal in Vietnam, was declared a must-try.

“Pho” can come in a variety of different styles with various meats, but each contains rice noodles and a broth seasoned with shallots, ginger, cardamom, star anise, cloves and fish sauce, the article described, adding that the dish is also served with onions, cilantro, scallions and black pepper.

It said that “pho” is so popular throughout Vietnam that it is often served everywhere, even in restaurants hidden in small city alleyways or village storefronts.

In June last year, the Business Insider also listed Hanoi’s “pho”, a “tangy beef noodle soup”, as the first of “40 meals you should eat in your lifetime”.

Another American newspaper, the Huffington Post, called “pho” a “bow of heaven” when listing it as one of the 12 most delicious foods people should discover when travelling abroad.

CNN placed “Pho” at No. 28 in the list of the world’s 50 best dishes, saying “some dishes you eat to stay alive, while others you eat because to not eat them would be a crime”.

Among the other dishes named in the Business Insider list were Asado, grilled Argentinean steak; Wiener Schnitzel, deep fried Austrian veal cutlet; Feijoada, Brazilian stew of black beans and smoked beef and pork; and Xiaolongbao, China’s soup dumplings.-VNA