Pho Cuon & a birthday!
Pho Cuon
So you’re moving to Hanoi, and you like food. The general expectation is that you will commence your new feasting life bright and early on your first morning with a big steaming bowl of pho. Now, I’m not adverse to a savoury breakfast, and I don’t mind eating pho once in a while, but it doesn’t excite or illuminate and I can barely ever finish a bowl of it. Noodle soup is just not my thing, I much prefer pho cuon.
There lie a gaggle of pho cuon joints on the north eastern edge of Truc Bach Lake. Mostly they are just some tables set up across from the water with touts stopping passers-by on motorbikes, mostly letting Westerners slip through unbothered. They serve Pho Cuon with a range of sides as well as Vietnamese Hot Pot in the wintertime. I’ve eaten at a few of these lakeside shacks but my favourite Pho Cuon so far is at the sprawling Pho Cuon Huong Mai.
Truc Bach Lake Scenery.
A no nonsense shell of a dining room, plastic stools pushed up against pepsi branded tables. When busy they seem to take over an empty room across the street, and diners spill out from upstairs as well, though I’ve only ever eaten in the main room. Order from the enlarged menu on the wall (prices had recently increased). The list is short, but includes such Pho Cuon side dishes as deep fried battered corn kernels, fried rice noodles with beef and chips. Seems there is some need to pair greasy dishes with the speciality which is clean, healthy and light.
But what is Pho Cuon? It could be described as the delicious progeny Pho Bo and Fresh Spring Rolls. Wide rice noodles are wrapped around garlicky grilled beef and herbs, like a cigar. Dunk this slippery sucker the supplied Nuoc Cham spiked with chilli and calamansi lime for all the flavour of pho bo condensed to a single mouthful. Then repeat the action. You won’t be able to stop at just one, I’m sure.
Pho Chien Phong
If I’m dining alone then one serve of Pho Cuon is sufficient, but if I have company this healthful meal is sullied by a plate of pillows (aka Pho Chien Phong). The rice noodle sheets are cut into squares and deep friend, served with a fresh tasting beef and green veg stir fry in a gluggy sauce. Who doesn’t love something deep fried, and when it is shatteringly crisp and simultaneously chewy, so much the better.
If noodle soups aren’t your thing there is hope, search out some of the other delicious and interesting food around Hanoi starting with a trip out to Truc Bach lake for some Pho Cuon.
** In other news, today is Pikelet & Pie’s 2nd birthday! Hip hip hooray!! Hope the terrible two’s aren’t too terrible around these parts.
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14 Comments
Oh I’ve had banh cuon but never had the pleasure of pho cuon before! It sounds delicious, as does pho chien phong – deep-fried rice noodle? zomg.
Happy 2nd birthday to Pikelet and Pie. Barely out of nappies and already a jetsetter!
.-= Helen (Grab Your Fork)´s last blog ..Interview: Ten Questions with Curtis Stone =-.
Mmm deep fried noodle sheets, so much crunchy goodness! Love the photo of the lake, it looks so still. Happy 2nd birthday for your blog
so glad you’ve kept it going!
.-= Steph´s last blog ..Finger Bun Bites =-.
Happy 2nd Birthday!
Never knew what pho cuon, let alone pho chien phong, was until today. Now there’s something to keep an eye out for at Vietnamese restaurants over the stereotypical finds
Happy 2nd blogiversary!! Oh yumm I want a plate of pillows mmm! Keep up the good works ^^!
I miss this soooo much!! Love your post and photo
My Vietnamese teachers had taken me to a lovely banh pho cuon restaurant when I was in Hanoi years ago. Later, my friends and I tried to find the same place again and we couldn’t. We had the taxi circle around so many streets around Truc Bach Lake and finally frustrated, went into a random pho cuon restaurant. It just wasn’t the same. I was just feeling nostalgic for this dish too!
.-= Wandering Chopsticks´s last blog ..Banh Mi & Che CALI Bakery – Westminster (Little Saigon) =-.
Happy 2nd birthday to Pikelet & Pie! May there be many more good times and great food with which to celebrate =)
.-= mlle délicieuse´s last blog ..Sam’s Café, 27 Dec 2009 =-.
Love the pictures. The food looks amazing. Noticed the picture of the menu and am now wondering what the prices are like, when converted..?
Happy blog birthday to Pikelet and Pie!
.-= Y´s last blog ..Once more, with passion. =-.
Happy birthday indeed… and your food just looks perfect and delicious… 2 delicious years…congrats!
.-= deana@lostpastrememb´s last blog ..Asparagus Dip just in time for Spring! =-.
Happy Birthday! As always, your post has left me dissatisified with my breakfast and my country. Thanks a bunch!
It is great to see pho cuon featured on a non-Vietnamese blog. I love the dish, but haven’t had a chance to eat it for 10 years now. It surely is on my list of “things to eat” when I come home this summer. Thank you for introducing yet another wonderful Viet dish to the world.
I’ve never heard them called that.. it must be a northen thing. My family is from Quy Nhon and we don’t call it that. So funny how food is called something so different from region to region.
.-= Thao´s last blog ..Turkey burger and a birthday… =-.
there’s a place in little saigon that sells these..they also sell the end pieces where they snip of the ends and that’s a real bargain! Happy B day to your blog! Glad we just discovered it.
.-= ravenouscouple´s last blog ..Flatbread Pizza Recipe: Lavash Bread Pizza =-.
Helen (Grab Your Fork): zomg indeed! Pho Cuon is way better than Banh Cuon, trust me.
Steph: Thanks Steph! Yeah, the roads around that lake are pretty narrow so there aren’t many cars and not much motorbike traffic, pretty peaceful for Hanoi.
Simon: I would be so interested to know if you found either of these dishes in a Vietnamese restaurant in Australia. let me know!
FFichiban: Thanks!
Anh: Thank you!
Wandering Chopsticks: I love that food can bring up such nostalgia. Some of those pho cuon places are definitely better than others. Thanks for sharing your story.
mlle délicieuse: Oh, there will ALWAYS be more great food
Y: The prices have only increased about 5,000VND across the board. I never get drinks here, but a plate each of pho con and pho chien phong comes out at about 75,000vnd, which is somewhere between $4 and $5AU. The exchange rate is about 17,000vnd to $1AU right now. Very affordable.
deana@lostpastrememb: Thank you, I couldn’t have done it without the support of the audience.
Ella: Well that was pretty much my intention.
Thuy: Thank you for your lovely words! Pho Cuon is one of my favourites, and I’m sure I will eat it more and more come summer. Have a lovely trip.
Thao: The different regional twists and names IS really interesting, what do you call this?
ravenouscouple: Thank you! How interesting, the ends would be a good snack when drenched in the dipping sauce.
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[...] weekend Pmum and I went on a little adventure. It started with pho cuon, continued with Vietnamese coffees and the planned finish was at the best ice cream/second hand [...]