Cassava noodles on a rainy day

Pho... B40

It was quite a while ago when we were sent to study in Hanoi . Being far from home, I missed it so much that I asked my wife to send me something from our hometown to ease my longing. To my surprise, she sent… cassava noodles.

I vividly remember the wide-eyed, surprised expressions of my classmates, some from the North, some from the South, when I introduced and invited them to try Quang Nam cassava pho, right on a rainy afternoon in Hanoi.

That day's meal, the cassava noodles, wasn't prepared quite right because cooking was prohibited in the Academy dormitory, so I had to secretly make use of whatever ingredients I had to have a meal that could be considered basic.

A few snakehead fish, a few hundred grams of pork belly; a few slices of pineapple, some scallions and a pot of broth cooked in a rice cooker; shredded cassava noodles, blanched briefly in water to soften; plus a basket of mixed fresh vegetables make for a special meal.

Despite lacking many things: fresh banana blossoms, mango leaves for salad, shallots, and homemade peanut oil for flavoring (in the North, shallots are not commonly used as a seasoning), it was enough to become the most cherished memory on every rainy October afternoon.

My friends from the North were praising how delicious it was while they were eating. They were sincere because I know that cassava noodle soup from our hometown is truly delicious. They were so impressed with cassava noodle soup that they even gave it another name: B40 noodle soup.

Because the starch from cassava (tapioca) tubers is pressed by the locals into neat, square pieces, resembling the B40 mesh used for fencing gardens. The comparison might sound funny, but it adds to the uniqueness of cassava pho – a dish you won't find anywhere else made like it is in our hometown.

Local specialties

I think that, although everyone's habits and tastes are different, for people from Quang Nam to eat "authentic" cassava noodle soup, it must have three elements: the noodles; the broth (which my hometown calls "nuoc nhun"); and a basket of fresh vegetables.

Cassava noodles are cooked with other ingredients.

The main ingredient of the dish is cassava noodles, which must be round, evenly pressed, and slightly translucent (indicating the quality of the cassava starch). Blanching the cassava noodles to soften them is also an art. Blanching them too thoroughly will make the noodles mushy and unappetizing, while blanching them too lightly will leave them hard and chewy, making them difficult to swallow.

As a humble dish, the ingredients for the broth aren't overly complicated. A few eels, a couple of freshwater fish, or sometimes just a few steamed mackerel, along with some pork belly, are enough. However, the broth for the cassava noodle soup must be sautéed in shallots and peanut oil to create a harmonious aroma and a truly satisfying taste…

One seemingly simple but very important element is the accompanying fresh vegetables. The fresh vegetables that go well with cassava noodle soup are thinly sliced banana blossoms, along with a few aromatic herbs like basil and young mango shoots... You can judge whether cassava noodle soup is delicious or not by just looking at the basket of fresh vegetables.

Putting the rice noodles in a bowl, pouring in the broth, adding a little roasted peanuts, and eating it with fresh vegetables… that’s the simplest way to eat cassava noodle soup I’ve ever known. Alternatively, blanched cassava noodles, fried in oil and then mixed with banana blossoms, is also a special dish worth trying at least once in your life.

One thing that every person from Quang Nam remembers and cherishes about this dish is that cassava pho originated during times of hardship and famine, when, besides cassava and sweet potatoes that could thrive in the arid lands of Central Vietnam, few other food crops were as effective. When people produced too much and couldn't sell it all, they made cassava pho to store and eat gradually.

From a dish of times of hardship, cassava noodles have left their homeland to appear in supermarkets, restaurants, and even for export. Cassava noodles, from a humble dish, have become a health food with medicinal properties.

For me, no matter how cassava pho is transformed or what modern labels it may bear, in my memory, the taste of that bowl of pho, lacking many ingredients, from that rainy afternoon far from home remains intact.

Source: https://baoquangnam.vn/pho-san-ngay-mua-3144751.html