Lotus Pho, cold rice and fish sauce of a Vietnamese expatriate in Singapore

As he was about to close the stall, a Vietnamese Singaporean came to ask for pho sen but there was none left. He returned a while later with a bowl of cold rice and said, 'Please sell me some fish sauce to eat with my rice because I miss home so much.'

SASCO's lotus-flavored pho welcomes guests at the Vietnamese Pho Festival in Singapore - Photo: HUU HANH

Grandfather Tran Trong Thuan - Deputy Director of SASCO's Long An branch - shared a touching story of a Vietnamese person living far from home on the sidelines of the Vietnam Pho Festival 2025, held in Singapore on October 18th and 19th at Our Tampines Hub, Singapore's largest community center.

This is the first time a pho festival has been held on such a large scale in Singapore, so it has received a warm welcome from the Vietnamese community as well as people living and working here.

Guests enjoying SASCO lotus seed pho at the Vietnam Pho Festival - Photo: HUU HANH

Vietnamese people crave Vietnamese food in Singapore.

Many stalls put up "out of stock" signs earlier than expected. And many people, due to schedules and work commitments, didn't arrive until 5 PM, by which time the pho restaurants were already starting to pack up and leave.

Mr. Thuan recounted that a customer had saved his appetite, going all day without eating because he wanted to attend the Vietnamese Pho Festival to enjoy a bowl of Vietnamese pho that he had longed for.

However, when he arrived, the stalls, including SASCO's lotus noodle soup stall, were packing up and preparing to leave.

The SASCO pho team thought the story ended there, but later, somehow the man bought a bowl of leftover rice and said, "Could you sell me 2 Singapore dollars worth of fish sauce so I can put a few drops in my bowl of rice?"

"This customer expressed his wish that Vietnamese products, including fish sauce, should have a stable presence in the Singapore market," Mr. Thuan recounted, illustrating how much he missed the taste of home.

He said, "Along with many other pho brands, SASCO's Pho Sen is making its first 'international' trip to Singapore, simply because we want Vietnamese people living abroad to enjoy the cuisine of their homeland, especially pho."

However, according to him, the purpose of the Vietnam Pho Festival doesn't stop there. At a pho festival or at a negotiating table, a bowl of pho can start one, or even many, stories, as shared by the Vietnamese Ambassador to Singapore, Tran Phuoc Anh.

Lotus-flavored pho at the Vietnam Pho Festival - Photo: HUU HANH

Lotus-flavored pho has a rich history and cultural significance for Vietnam.

Mr. Nguyen Hoang Anh, deputy head chef of SASCO, shared that in 2021, the superiors assigned the chefs a difficult task: to create a dish that combines the two most traditional and quintessential elements of Vietnamese cuisine.

In terms of cuisine, pho is a national dish, loved by many people around the world ; and in nature, the most beautiful flower is the lotus – considered the national flower of Vietnam.

"Hearing the name 'lotus pho' already brings to mind Vietnam. When mentioning lotus pho, it can't be Korea, Japan, or Singapore, but definitely Vietnam," he said. "To create a lotus pho that is different from many other types of pho, SASCO chefs spent 10 months pondering and experimenting to find the right recipe."

A group of visitors toured the SASCO lotus noodle stall - Photo: HUU HANH

Sous Chef Hoang Anh revealed another reason why lotus root pho is both rich, creamy, subtly fragrant, and subtly sweet: the broth of lotus root pho is made from bones and peeled lotus root, soaked in lemon and salt, then blanched briefly in boiling water, and then simmered in beef pho broth to absorb the flavors and become rich and savory.

"In a bowl of lotus pho, the blend of bone broth, beef, lotus root, sea worms, cinnamon, and star anise creates a subtly sweet flavor that balances the taste. The pho noodles themselves are made from rice flour, lotus root flour, wheat flour, tapioca starch, etc., combined with cooking oil and salt. Lotus pho also includes traditional fish sauce (produced in Phu Quoc) to enhance the aroma," he added.

Sous Chef Hoang Anh is adding fish sauce to the pho - Photo: HUU HANH

In other words, a bowl of pho contains the history of fish sauce, the history of lotus, the history of rice and other Vietnamese agricultural products… Along with that is the folk wisdom passed down from our ancestors for generations.

Therefore, "promoting pho means promoting an entire ecosystem and supply chain," Mr. Tran Trong Thuan assessed.

Mr. Tran Trong Thuan speaks about the significance of pho in trade promotion at the Vietnamese Embassy in Singapore - Photo: HUU HANH

This representative gave an example from SASCO's product display booth at the Vietnam Pho Festival 2025, where, in addition to traditional fish sauces (for dipping, cooking, etc.), they also offer dried pho noodles – a type of pho that becomes fresh pho when water is added.

Producing fresh rice noodles directly in a country like Singapore is very complex, requiring many procedures and posing difficulties in preservation (they can only be consumed within 1-2 days, leading to waste).

At the festival, a reputable F&B distributor in Singapore, introduced by the Vietnamese Ambassador to Singapore, Tran Phuoc Anh, expressed interest in working with SASCO to export the first batch of pho noodles to the Singapore market in the near future.

A representative from SASCO said, "Pho festivals like this are opportunities for businesses to connect and trade with each other. A bowl of pho is no longer just a simple bowl of pho."

Vietnam Pho Festival 2025 in Singapore

Connecting cultures, fostering cooperation.

The Vietnam Pho Festival 2025 in Singapore, organized by the Vietnamese Embassy in Singapore, Tuoi Tre newspaper, and Saigontourist Group in collaboration with the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade and the Liaison Committee of Vietnamese People in Singapore, under the direction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, will take place on October 18 and 19 at Our Tampines Hub, Singapore.

The festival is being held in the context of Vietnam and Singapore having recently upgraded their relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, affirming the topical significance and scale of the program.

With the message "Pho - Enjoying together, growing together," the Vietnam Pho Festival 2025 aims to go beyond simply inviting international friends to enjoy a signature Vietnamese dish, which was listed by CNN as one of the top 50 must-try foods globally in 2011. It also conveys Vietnam's aspiration for connection, sharing, and collaborative development.

Through this festival, pho will be introduced as a "cultural ambassador," serving as a bridge connecting Vietnam and Singapore, as well as international friends, to work together towards a prosperous and sustainable future.

The most important activity of the festival is giving Singaporeans and visitors the opportunity to enjoy the authentic taste of Vietnamese pho. At Our Tampines Hub, attendees will be able to enjoy pho prepared directly by top artisans and chefs from Vietnam.

The head chefs of the 5-star hotels belonging to the Saigontourist Group system, including the four luxury hotels Rex Saigon, Majestic Saigon, Grand Saigon, Caravelle Saigon, and the Pho restaurant brand Golf Thu Duc (Vietnam Golf & Country Club), along with famous pho brands such as Pho Sen Sasco, Pho Thin Bo Ho, Pho Ta, Pho Phu Gia, Pho Vuong, Ba Ban Pho… will bring diversity in cooking methods and ways of enjoying pho.

Besides pho, attendees also had the opportunity to enjoy many other traditional Vietnamese dishes, prepared by Saigontourist's 5-star chefs, creating a vibrant "culinary symphony".

Notably, alongside the Pho Festival, a large-scale investment forum was also held: the Vietnam-Singapore Investment, Trade and Tourism Promotion Forum 2025, affirming the substantive nature of the event. The forum took place immediately after the opening ceremony (morning of October 18th) and was expected to attract approximately 150 businesses from both countries.

At the forum, government agencies and businesses will discuss new cooperation trends in green processing and logistics, tourism and aviation services, import and export of Vietnamese agricultural products and specialties, digital transformation and e-commerce.

In particular, the Business Matching program (one-on-one business networking) will facilitate direct meetings between Vietnamese and Singaporean businesses, allowing them to explore practical cooperation opportunities.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/pho-sen-chen-com-nguoi-va-nuoc-mam-cua-mot-nguoi-viet-xa-xu-o-singapore-20251019151952938.htm