The nearly 40-year-old pho restaurant of Ms. Do Thu Huong in Truong Dinh (Hoang Mai, Hanoi ) has remained nameless and signless for many years. Regular diners often call it "pho tai lan 492 Truong Dinh" or "pho tai lan u Huong".
"No need to know the name or address, just walk through the neighborhood, wherever you smell the fragrant smell of burnt garlic and fatty beef, it's definitely U Huong restaurant," said Mr. Nam - a regular customer at the restaurant.
In the kitchen area right at the restaurant's entrance, Mrs. Huong quickly dropped crushed garlic into the pan of simmering oil. When the garlic was just charred and fragrant, she poured in the beef and stirred it evenly. While standing in the kitchen, Mrs. Huong gave "commands" to the staff: "Table 2 bowls 50 thousand", "Table 4 two bowls no MSG, lots of onions", "Pay attention", "Add more meat"...
"I speak loudly so that the staff can concentrate and avoid confusion. It is also a way for me to determine how many bowls I need to make and how much each bowl costs to balance the amount of meat. If the restaurant is crowded and I don't "talk loudly" like that, it is easy to make mistakes," said Ms. Huong.
The exhaust fan located right in Mrs. Huong's kitchen was also working at full capacity.
Previously, Mrs. Huong sold banh khuc. Later, a friend came to visit her house and saw the beautiful location, so he advised Mrs. Huong to switch to selling pho. The friend also passed on some of the secrets of the trade to her.
"I learned how to cook pho from what my friend shared. Then I made it myself and changed it myself. It took me a long time to have a complete recipe," said Ms. Huong.
For nearly 40 years, Ms. Huong's pho restaurant has only sold one dish: rare beef pho. "I'm the only one cooking at the restaurant, so I don't make too many dishes. I only focus on one dish to ensure the best quality," Ms. Huong said.
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To make the special rare beef dish, Mrs. Huong has to buy fresh beef from a reputable source. She imports the beef every morning, washes, prepares and slices it herself. The fresh beef is quickly stir-fried over high heat with crushed garlic. The meat must be stir-fried with lard instead of cooking oil to create a fragrant, fatty taste.
When the meat was just cooked, Mrs. Huong quickly divided it into a bowl of pho and then ladled boiling broth over it. The meat and garlic were fragrant and rich, the broth was rich with a thin layer of hot fat "covering" it.
The broth is simmered for about 10 hours from beef bones, with added fish sauce, onions and roasted ginger. Mrs. Huong does not add star anise, cinnamon or cardamom.
Mrs. Huong uses handmade pho noodles. When eaten, the pho noodles are soft, chewy, and mixed with the broth. Every day, the restaurant sells about 100kg of pho noodles.
At Mrs. Huong's rare beef pho restaurant, they only serve it with chili vinegar, without lemon or kumquat. The restaurant does not have a listed price, but depending on the price of the customer's order, Mrs. Huong adjusts the amount of meat accordingly. Each bowl of pho costs between 30,000 and 60,000 VND.
"I've been eating here since I was a student, for more than ten years now. Compared to many other restaurants in the area, the pho here has a stable price, lots of noodles, lots of meat, and most importantly, the meat is fresh, flavorful, and the broth is flavorful. The only thing is that the restaurant is crowded, so sometimes you have to wait," said Mr. Nam (in black shirt).
Mrs. Huong opens from 6am to about 11am. Every day, the shop sells 400-500 bowls, and can increase more on weekends. The shop has 6 people working at the same time but is still overloaded at times.
Photo: Vu Quang Minh
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