Vietnamese Pho Has A Mysterious Origin

Pho is an iconic soup made with meat, rice noodles, and herbs served in a bone broth. While it might be Vietnam's national dish, its origins are elusive and likely lost to history.

Historians believe pho likely originated from the Nam Dinh province in the Red River Delta during the late 19th to early 20th century, which was under French control at the time.

Thanks to the French demand for beef, the meat became readily available, and it was added to bánh đa cua, while the surplus of beef bones found its way into stock pots for broth.

It's unclear what exactly transformed into pho, but some theorize it could have been a Vietnamese spin on the French pot-au-feu, a one-pot beef and vegetable stew.

Other contenders are niurou fen, a Chinese beef and noodle soup, and xáo trâu, a Vietnamese dish. We can't know for sure, but all of these dishes likely had some influence on pho.