Mrs. Hai Thien, the pho vendor, is very generous with pho.

Today I saw Mrs. 'Hai Thien' cooking chicken pho right in Tu San alley, inviting the Hmong people to eat it. A few days later, I heard she went to America to sell packets of pho spices. She's a person passionate about pho and full of positive energy in developing Vietnamese pho.

"The 'pho vendor' dressed elegantly in a traditional Vietnamese dress to promote pho at the 2025 Vietnamese Pho Festival in Singapore - Photo: HUU HANH"

From the very beginning of Pho Day , Ms. Thanh Nguyen, owner of the Hai Thien pho brand located on Bui Vien Street (Ho Chi Minh City), has been involved with the program. She has never missed a single year, whether Pho Day was held in the North or the South, and even abroad to participate in Vietnamese Pho Festivals .

Mrs. Hai Thien, the owner of the pho stall, doesn't keep her pho-making techniques a secret.

Ms. Nguyen admitted that she has restless feet, so when her Hai Thien pho restaurant was doing well, she had to stop.

Over four years ago, she boasted about producing Vietnamese pho spice packets for export under the brand name "The Pho Seller." Her products were then featured on the globally renowned Amazon platform. Currently, her main source of income comes from selling "The Pho Seller" spice packets in the United States.

But, her family's roots are in making pho noodles. When talking about pho noodles, she speaks at length, rattling off details about famous rice varieties in the Mekong Delta used to make pho and vermicelli, such as Ham Chau, IR504, Long Dinh… to Doan Ket and Bao Thanh Hong rice from the North.

She didn't hide her profession at all. I'll never forget the night the "Pho of Love" program brought pho to Thieng Lieng hamlet (Can Gio, Ho Chi Minh City) - this was a post- Pho Day event , aimed at promoting pho to disadvantaged areas and carrying a charitable purpose.

Despite having registered residency in Ho Chi Minh City, the residents of Thieng Lieng island hamlet hardly know what pho is. A "pho vendor" painstakingly brought her pho noodle-making equipment all the way to Thieng Lieng to teach the women how to make pho noodles.

She revealed all her secrets for making pho noodles: "Listen, you can't just buy rice flour and mix it with water to make pho noodles. You have to use some leftover cooked rice, grind it together with the rice to make the flour for the pho noodles, that's how you get delicious pho noodles."

Ms. Thanh Nguyen cooks pho in Tu San alley, Ban Phung - Photo: DONA DO NGOC

Thanks to her family business, Hai Thien's pho restaurant used to attract customers not only with traditional beef pho, but also with pho rolls. The pho rolls weren't just the traditional white; she also mixed in colors from fruits and vegetables to create colorful pho rolls that were very appealing to Western children.

Of course, Ms. Nguyen also showcased her specialty of making pho noodles at the Pho Day 2025 festival for everyone to see, and even organized games for those who wanted to experience making pho noodles themselves. She laughed, "Whoever makes pho noodles well will receive a gift from 'The Pho Seller'."

We would also like to announce that at the Pho Day Festival 2025 , in addition to witnessing the traditional Pho vendor making the noodles, visitors will also get to see corn pho from Ha Giang made from corn flour, or the red rice pho stall in Bac Ha where a young woman from an ethnic minority group will be making the noodles from red rice from Bac Ha, Lao Cai.

Ms. Thanh Nguyen cooks pho in a picturesque setting by the Nho Que River - Photo: DONA DO NGOC

Not only does it make delicious pho...

It would be a great oversight not to mention the unique promotional strategies for pho employed by "The Pho Seller." Famous photographer Dona Do Ngoc, while accompanying "The Pho Seller," created a series of photos that subsequently attracted considerable attention, especially from foreign visitors.

Specifically, there's a photo series of Ms. Nguyen wearing traditional ethnic clothing, cooking pho by the Nho Que River – right at the Tu San gorge (snaking between the two towering Ma Pi Leng mountains). And another series of photos is of her in the terraced rice fields of Ban Phung (Ha Giang). It must be said that these two photo series effectively promote both Vietnamese pho and tourism .

"The 'Pho Seller' Thanh Nguyen not only cooks delicious pho, but is also creative in her business and in promoting herself and her products. Furthermore, she has a generous heart; wherever natural disasters occur, you can immediately find her there."

Like the tragic incident in Lang Nu village, she stayed there to help the people, and it was she who advised us on how to meticulously prepare the logistics for the "Pho of Love 2024" program in Lang Nu village.

Most recently, she was in Phu Yen – the most devastated area after the recent floods. A few days ago, when I called to ask where she was, she said: "I'm in Phu Yen, preparing to go back to take care of the Hai Thien pho stall for the Pho Day 2025 festival ."

There's a "Pho vendor" whose stall we think everyone should visit to experience just how much love she has for pho.

The joy of locals enjoying a hot bowl of pho - Photo: DONA DO NGOC

Ms. Thanh Nguyen selects fresh and delicious ingredients to cook pho - Photo: DONA DO NGOC

Children in the highlands enjoy pho together - Photo: DONA DO NGOC

The aroma of pho wafts far and wide throughout the village - Photo: DONA DO NGOC

Ms. Thanh Nguyen meticulously prepares each bowl of pho - Photo: DONA DO NGOC

A makeshift pho kitchen - Photo: DONA DO NGOC

The Pho Day 12-12 program, now in its 9th year with the theme "Elevating Vietnamese Rice - Spreading Across Five Continents," will take place over two days, December 13th and 14th, at the former Tax Department Store area, 135 Nguyen Hue Street, Saigon Ward, Ho Chi Minh City.

The program features nearly 30 famous and unique pho brands from North to South Vietnam, showcasing a diverse range of pho dishes reflecting the characteristics of different regions and local cultures.

With a price of 40,000 VND per bowl, the Pho Day festival on December 12, 2025, is expected to serve more than 20,000 servings over two days. The organizers will donate at least 10% of the pho sales revenue to the "Pho of Love" program, cooking and serving pho to people in the flood-stricken areas of Dak Lak province (formerly Phu Yen), which recently suffered damage from natural disasters.

The Pho Day 12-12 program is supported and coordinated by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Cultural Diplomacy - Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Department of Trade Promotion - Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade, and the Vietnam Culinary Culture Association, with the diamond partnership of Acecook Vietnam Joint Stock Company for many years, and this year with the additional support of Ho Chi Minh City Development Commercial Bank (HDBank), Cholimex Food Joint Stock Company, Saigon Trading Corporation Limited (SATRA), Suntory Pepsico Beverage Company Limited, etc.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/ba-ban-pho-hai-thien-rong-long-voi-pho-2025121117331507.htm