The Soup That Vietnamese Eat Illegally Every Day

2024 Author: Jasmine Walkman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 08:29

The most popular and favorite local breakfast in Vietnam is Fo Bo soup. It is made from strong beef broth with flat rice spaghetti and chunks of beef. Season with green spices, onion, pepper and lemon juice. However, there are a lot of secrets and subtleties in cooking soup that Vietnamese are proud of.

The origin of this exotic breakfast is attributed to North Vietnam, but today it can already be said to be a culinary sign of all Vietnamese cuisine. According to some, however, the emergence of Fo Bo is associated with the French pot au feu - a ceramic dish in which the dish of the same name is cooked. This statement is supported by the fact that until the XIX century in Vietnam did not use beef at all and the dish was introduced into the local cuisine during the French Empire.

According to another version, the Vietnamese became acquainted with beef thanks to the Mongols.

Today in Hanoi, the favorite soup is cooked in pavilions and cafes and is even often eaten on foot. Inventive local chefs are able to load in baskets attached to a bamboo rocker, everything needed to quickly cook a delicious soup, including burners, pots, plastic bowls and chairs for their visitors.

However, when the police heard that they were coming, they quickly folded their camp kitchen and settled on another street. But their mobility comes at a price - a long and exhausting preparation, even just for boiling the broth.

Photo: Albena Assenova

We present you the recipe for this interesting Vietnamese soup.

Necessary products:

300 g beef / veal fillet

1 liter of beef broth

1 tbsp. fish sauce

1 onion

1 cinnamon stick

2 stars star anise

salt to taste

ground white pepper to taste

150 g of rice spaghetti

½ connection green onions

½ Coriander connection

½ connection fresh mint

2 limes

2 cm ginger root

1 hot red pepper

70 g soybean sprouts

1 pinch of ground nutmeg

Method of preparation:

1. Wash the meat, dry it, wrap it in fresh foil and put it in the chamber for 30 minutes;

2. Pour the broth into a saucepan and add the fish sauce, peeled whole onion, cinnamon stick, star anise, salt and pepper. Cook under the lid for 25 minutes. Strain;

3. Pour boiling water over the rice spaghetti, cover the dish and after 10 minutes pour out the water;

4. Remove the frozen meat and with a sharp knife cut it across the muscle fibers into very thin sheets;

5. Finely chop the green onions, coriander and mint. Cut the green lemons into 4 pieces. Peel the ginger and cut it into thin straws. Peel a squash, grate it and cut it into thin rings.

6. Put rice spaghetti and soy sprouts on a plate, sprinkle with ginger, green onions and nutmeg. Put a few leaves of meat in each portion. Pour over the hot broth and sprinkle with hot peppers.

7. Serve the hot soup for breakfast. Serve sliced lime separately so that everyone can acidify the soup according to their taste.

NB! Note that beef or veal according to the recipe is added to the soup raw - something uncharacteristic of our kitchen. In Vietnamese cuisine, it is believed that the meat, cut very thin and covered with boiling broth, is still heat-treated to some extent. In order not to risk raw meat, you can use raw-smoked meat or cook the meat of your choice.