Follow Japanese tourists to enjoy pho "order one get two" in Gia Lai

The Japanese guest could not help but be amazed by the strange and attractive flavor - "order one get two" pho in Gia Lai for 50,000 VND.

A bowl of Gia Lai dry pho includes rice noodles with pork rinds, fried onions, and minced pork, while the broth bowl will have beef, beef balls, or bones. (Photo: Tetsuo Arafune)

Tetsuo Arafune (also known as Uncle Nam, born in 1985, from Saitama Prefecture, Japan) has been living in Ho Chi Minh City for several years. To learn about Vietnamese culture as well as improve his second language, he spends time traveling to many places and experiencing local dishes and specialties.

Among the Vietnamese dishes he has enjoyed, Tetsuo revealed that he really likes pho and is surprised that this "national" specialty has many versions with different flavors, ingredients and preparation methods.

In particular, he was impressed with the "order one get two" dry pho in Gia Lai, so he took the opportunity to enjoy it as soon as he had the opportunity to visit the mountain town.

Here, Tetsuo stopped by a famous local restaurant on Nguyen Van Troi Street (Pleiku City). The restaurant specializes in dry pho and is a familiar dining destination for many locals and tourists.

The Japanese customer ordered a regular bowl of dry pho for 50,000 VND. The dish is served in two separate bowls, one containing pho and one containing broth, with spices such as lemon, chili, and herbs. Because of this special way of serving, customers jokingly call it “two-bowl pho”, “order one get two” pho.

Gia Lai's dry pho dish impressed Japanese guests. (Photo: Tetsuo Arafune)

According to Tetsuo, the dry pho dish uses round, thin and chewy noodles, not soft and flat like regular pho. The beef broth is rich, has a natural sweetness and is fragrant.

In addition, the dish is also served with black soy sauce. This is a typical soy sauce of Gia Lai people, fermented from soybeans, has a salty taste mixed with a little fat, slightly sweet, and is quite delicious when dipped with beef.

He admitted that dry pho has a unique and attractive flavor, completely different from the familiar hu tieu or pho soup dishes that he has eaten. “Dry pho is a typical dish that no tourist visiting Gia Lai can ignore,” the 39-year-old guest shared.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Bich Hong, owner of the dry pho restaurant of the same name that Tetsuo visited, said that although it is called pho, this dish is different from regular bowls of pho, from ingredients to service.

Dried pho is one of the famous specialties in Gia Lai. (Photo: Takero Mori)

In particular, pho noodles are made from ground rice flour, have a round and thin texture and when boiled in water, they will be chewy and fragrant, not soft and mushy. Thanks to that, when mixed, pho noodles will easily absorb the spices.

When enjoying, diners add herbs, bean sprouts and drizzle some black bean sauce and mix all the ingredients in the dry pho bowl. Black bean sauce in Gia Lai is a type of crushed bean sauce, thick, rich and fragrant, suitable for mixed dishes.

The restaurant serves two types of broth from chicken and beef, customers can choose according to their taste and preference.

Ms. Hong said that the restaurant has been open for more than 70 years, with about 20 employees serving and participating in all stages of the process. Every day, everyone has to get up to prepare at 3am.

Because of the large number of customers, everyone has to work hard to ensure quick and attentive service. The largest number of customers is usually in the morning and at noon.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/theo-chan-khach-nhat-thuong-thuc-pho-goi-mot-duoc-hai-o-gia-lai-288056.html