Launching the contest "Finding the best pho cook 2025" at Cashless Day

On the afternoon of June 15, Tuoi Tre newspaper announced the contest "Finding the best pho cook 2025" at Nguyen Hue walking street within the framework of Cashless Day 2025.

The announcement ceremony of the 2025 Pho Cooking Contest took place within the framework of Cashless Day 2025 - Photo: QUANG DINH

Finding a good pho cook is an activity within the framework of the Vietnam Pho Festival, which takes place on December 12 every year.

Just love cooking pho can compete

At the announcement ceremony, the audience interacted with the owners of the Pho restaurants that won the Golden Star Anise award, Ms. Nguyen Tieu Bich Tran Tran - owner of Pho restaurant 34 Cao Thang street, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City and Mr. Nguyen Tien Hai - owner of the Pho 'S brand.

Ms. Tran Tran shared: “I am very happy and honored to be invited to the launch of the contest to find the best pho cook . My pho restaurant has also used cashless payment services for a long time.

Quick and easy payment, no need to waste time changing money. Customers just need to scan the transfer code and it's done."

Sharing the secret to a delicious bowl of pho, the chef who won the 2019 Golden Star Anise Championship cooks it in the traditional style, with delicious meat and sweetness from the bones.

“Anyone who loves cooking pho, even if they don’t have a business, can join the contest. This is an opportunity for those who love cooking pho to learn more about pho from experienced people. From there, they will have the opportunity to reach more customers,” Ms. Tran Tran added.

Mr. Nguyen Tien Hai's Pho 'S brand is quite special compared to other pho restaurants today because it has Ngoc Linh ginseng. Because of this uniqueness, his restaurant attracts many gourmets from home and abroad.

Mr. Tien Hai said that most of the customers coming to the restaurant are foreigners, 90% of them have been paying cashless for many years. This helps with transparency in sales and is convenient for accounting.

Exchange with Golden Star Anise Nguyen Tieu Bich Tran Tran, Nguyen Tien Hai - Photo: QUANG DINH

Permanent Vice President of Vietnam Young Chefs Association Do Nguyen Hoang Long speaks - Photo: QUANG DINH

Opportunity to attend Vietnam Pho Festival in Singapore

Culinary artist Bui Thi Suong tells of Cashless Day using technology vehicles, her son orders and pays by card, fast and convenient. She is learning card usage skills so she can use it more.

Returning to the story of pho, the 5-year judge of the contest "Finding a good pho cook" said: "Vietnamese pho is always the top dish on the list of Vietnamese cuisine. When promoting Vietnamese cuisine abroad, the signature dish is always pho.

I still remember the program promoting Vietnamese cuisine in Sweden, there were 36 Vietnamese dishes, the pho stall always had a long line of people waiting to enjoy. Seeing a Western man I knew, I asked him, he smiled and said this was his third bowl.

Mr. Do Nguyen Hoang Long - Permanent Vice President of the Vietnam Young Chefs Association, shared that he was lucky to be invited to be a judge. This is the 4th season he has taken on the role of judge to find pho lovers and delicious pho cooks.

"The winner of the Golden Star Anise award does not need to be a professional chef, he just needs to bring a unique pho flavor" - Mr. Hoang Long emphasized.

Journalist Cao Huy Tho (left cover) with delegates - Photo: QUANG DINH

Journalist Cao Huy Tho - Deputy Director of Tuoi Tre Newspaper Media Service Center, Deputy Organizing Committee of the 2025 Pho Cooking Contest - said that Pho Day will take place on December 12 in Le Loi Street (District 1, Ho Chi Minh City), introducing all delicious pho dishes.

The five winners of the Golden Star Anise Award in the 2025 Pho Cooking Contest will be invited to promote pho at the Vietnam Pho Festival, which will take place in Singapore in early October 2025.

Majestic Hotel's beef rib pho ( Saigontourist ) was introduced at the Vietnam Pho Festival in Seoul (Korea) - Photo: QUANG DINH

Information about the contest "Finding the best pho cook 2025"

I. Contestants:

- Are Vietnamese citizens and foreigners living in Vietnam or are chefs at restaurants, hotels.

- No gender discrimination.

- Age: from 18 to 60 years old.

II. Contest conditions:

- Register for the contest by following these steps:

Fill in the information on the registration form for the 2025 contest "Finding a good pho cook" posted on the website www.tuoitre.vn.

Send the registration form by post or email to the organizing committee before September 10, 2025 to the address:

Address: Tuoi Tre Newspaper Office (60A Hoang Van Thu, Ward 9, Phu Nhuan District, HCMC)

Email: hoangcuapho@tuoitre.com.vn

Contestants can also register to participate in the contest by calling the hotline: 08986 422 74 (Ms. Cam) and providing relevant information according to the regulations of the organizing committee.

- Candidates must be of good moral character, in good health and have a clear background.

- Contestants must wear uniforms (white chef's shirt and hat) and wear their registration number throughout the contest (the registration number is worn on the chest and is issued by the organizer and the contestant's position is arranged in order a, b, c...).

- The contest dishes will be judged by the judges in order of first come, first served (whoever finishes the dish first will be judged first).

- To avoid contestants dropping out of the contest without reason, the organizers request that when submitting their entry form, contestants must pay a security fee of 2 million VND (this amount will be refunded by the organizers after the contest ends).

- In case the contestant drops out of the exam with a valid reason, the security fee will be refunded. In case the contestant drops out of the exam without a valid reason, the security fee will be donated to the charity activity "Pho Yeu Thuong" taking place after the Pho Day 2025 event.

- Contestants must submit a notarized copy of their citizen identification card or passport to the organizing committee before the qualifying round begins.

III. Competition rounds:

1. Overview:

Round	Time	Location	How to
Launch the contest	June 14, 2025	Nguyen Hue Walking Street, Ho Chi Minh City	Launching a national contest
Register and submit entries for the Preliminary Round	From the date of launching the contest until July 31, 2025	Nationwide	- Accepting contest registrations online, via hotline, and by post; - Receive Preliminary Round entries online.
	15-8-2025	Nationwide	Marking the preliminary round and announcing the list of candidates entering the qualifying round
Qualifying round	20-9-2025	HCMC	Participate in the centralized exam
Final round	9-21-2025	HCMC	Participate in the centralized exam

2. Contest content

2.1. Preliminary round:

- Time: From the date of announcement of the contest launch until July 31, 2025.

- Format: Candidates register for the contest according to the organizer's form, send a video about the pho cooking process or a picture with a description of the dish.

- Based on the content of the videos and images sent by the contestants, the organizers will select 30 pho cooks to enter the qualifying round.

2.2. Qualifying Round:

- Time: September 20, 2025.

- Location: Van Thanh Tourist Area, Ho Chi Minh City.

- Exam method:

Number of qualifying round participants: 30 people

Format: Individual exam (contestants are not allowed to have anyone assist them during the exam). 30 people are divided into 2 rounds:

• Morning: Candidates residing in Ho Chi Minh City or neighboring areas.
• Afternoon: Contestants living far away (to have time to prepare broth).

Exam time: 60 minutes

Ingredients will be prepared by the contestants themselves.

Contest dish: Beef noodle soup.

Serving size: 6 bowls of pho for the judges to score.

- Contestant benefits:

Contestants are provided with uniforms (aprons and chef hats) by the organizers.

Each person is supported with the cost of purchasing raw materials of 500,000 VND/person.

Candidates from other areas arriving in Ho Chi Minh City 1 day before the exam date will be supported with accommodation (2 days 2 nights/2 people).

The organizers support kitchen equipment, each person includes:

• 1 induction cooker.
• 2 pots.
• 1 bottle of 20 liter purified water.
• 1 pack of cooking gloves.
• 1 cooking table.
• 6 sets of bowls, dipping cups, coasters, spoons, chopsticks.

- Food hygiene and safety requirements:

During the processing, it is necessary to ensure full hygiene requirements (wash hands before preparing food) and other requirements such as using separate cutting boards for raw food and cutting boards for cooked food; ensuring food hygiene and safety for raw materials, flavors, and food.

The judges will score the cleanliness of the kitchen area after the contestants have completed their performance.

- Jury :

Vietnamese culinary artist Pham Anh Tuyet.

Vietnamese culinary artist Bui Thi Suong.

Vice President of Vietnam Young Chefs Association: Do Nguyen Hoang Long.

Representative of the organizing committee.

Representative of accompanying unit.

- Scoring criteria: According to the scoring format, the maximum is 100 points, distributed as follows:

Criteria	Scoring scale
Flavor and aroma of food	50 points
Food presentation	20 points
Implementation techniques	10 points
Creativity	10 points
Cleaning - classifying organic and inorganic waste	5 points
Chef style, uniform coordination	5 points

- How to determine the test results of the candidates:

The judges will add up the scores of each contestant, and whoever has the higher total score will be ranked higher (from highest to lowest).

In case the contestants have the same total score, the judges will ask an additional question to decide the winner.

At the end of the qualifying round, based on the judges' results, the organizing committee will announce the 10 outstanding people who will enter the final round.

2.3. Final round:

- Time: September 21, 2025.

- Location: Van Thanh Tourist Area.

- Exam method:

Format: Individual exam (contestants are not allowed to have anyone assist them during the exam).

Contest time:

• From 7am to 4pm, compete in cooking broth.
• From 4pm to 6pm pho cooking competition.

Ingredients are prepared by the contestants themselves.

Contest dish: Beef noodle soup

Portion: 10 bowls of pho for the judges to score.

After completing the cooking competition, contestants will present their dishes to the panel of judges (each contestant has 5 minutes to present).

- Contestant benefits:

Uniforms (aprons and chef hats) provided by the organizer

Each contestant will be supported by the organizers with 1,000,000 VND to buy ingredients to cook pho.

The organizers support kitchen equipment, each contestant includes:

• 1 induction cooker and 1 gas stove (for simmering bones).
• 2 pots.
• Shared sink (5 candidates/2 sinks).
• 1 bottle of 20 liter purified water.
• 1 pack of cooking gloves.
• 1 cooking table.

- Jury:

Main jury:

• Vietnamese culinary artist Pham Anh Tuyet;
• Vietnamese culinary artist Bui Thi Suong;
• Vice President of Vietnam Young Chefs Association Do Nguyen Hoang Long;
• Representative of the organizing committee;
• Representative of accompanying unit.

KOLs jury expected:

• YouTuber Khoai Lang Thang;
• Miss Intercontinental 2022 Le Nguyen Bao Ngoc;
• Businesswoman Ngo Thi Ai Linh (Link Kova).

- Jury's scoring criteria: According to the scoring format, the maximum is 100 points, distributed as follows:

The main jury accounts for 70% of the total score.

The judges are KOLs (food YouTubers and public figures): accounting for 30% of the total score.

Criteria	Scoring scale
Flavor and aroma of food	40 points
Food presentation	10 points
Implementation techniques	10 points
Creativity	10 points
Cleaning - classifying organic and inorganic waste	5 points
Chef style; uniform coordination	5 points
Presentation Point	20 points

- How to determine the test results of the candidates:

The judges will add up the scores of each contestant, and whoever has the higher total score will be ranked higher (from highest to lowest).

In case the contestants have the same total score, the judges will ask an additional question to decide the winner.

At the end of the final round, based on the judges' results, the organizers announced the top 5 winners of the 2025 Pho Cooker award.

IV. Prize structure:

Prizes include cash and products.

- Top 5 people who cook the highest pho will receive the prize: Golden Star Anise

Receive certificates, medals and bonuses from the organizers (20 million VND/person), products of the accompanying unit, certificate of "Vietnam Culinary Culture Association".

In particular, the top 5 Golden Star Anise will be invited to cook and promote Vietnamese Pho at the Vietnam Pho Festival 2025 in Singapore in October 2025 (the organizer covers the costs).

Top 5 Golden Star Anise were invited to cook and promote pho at Pho Day 2025 in Ho Chi Minh City.

- The top 5 remaining pho cooks will receive the prize: Silver Star Anise

Receive a certificate, bonus from the organizer (10 million VND/person), products from the accompanying unit, and a certificate from the "Vietnam Culinary Culture Association".

HOANG LE - HOAI PHUONG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/cong-bo-cuoc-thi-di-tim-nguoi-nau-pho-ngon-2025-2025061517142484.htm