HÀ NỘI – Phở Festival 2024 in the northern city of Nam Định will feature a 300-litre saucepan of broth cooked by 20 local artisans and 30 helpers.

The broth will be made from boiling cow’s bones and some 40kg of beef, and served with 20kg of herbs, red chilly and spices such as fish sauce, salt, cinnamon, thảo quả (cardamom) and hoa hồi (anise).

At the unveiling of the broth Friday afternoon, old artisans will recall the ancient way of making phở.

They will make rice noodles by hands and serve various kinds of noodles from three regions including phở ngô (noodles made from corn from Hà Giang province), rice noodles (Hà Nội), phở sắn (noodle from cassava from Quảng Nam province), phở sen (noodle from lotus seeds) and phở bột chuối xanh (noodle from young banana).

As many as 1,000 bowls of phở will be served at the site.

Dozen of chefs will make a giant phở broth to serve 1,000 bowls of phở at the festival on Friday. Photos Courtesy of the Organisers

“Artisans and chefs are boiling bones and preparing beef for tomorrow,” said Lê Thị Thiết, chairwoman of the Nam Định Association of Gastronomic Culture. “Other preparations for the festival are almost done.”

Through the giant bowl of broth, the organisers aim to praise traditional Vietnamese spices.

Thiết said the festival also aims to promote the brand names of the spices used in Vietnamese phở.

“Vietnamese phở has a special taste of salt, fish sauce, and herbal spices to balance nutrition in the dish,” she said. “We built a programme titled Journey of Phở at the festival to introduce Vietnamese spices.”

Various kind of noodle will be made at the site.

At the same event, Nam Định Association of Gastronomic Culture will present a permission certificate of the brand name “Phở Cồ” to 45 members from Vân Cù Village, in Nam Trực District, Nam Định Province who have opened phở shops throughout the country.

The festival taking place in Nam Định Province on March 15-17 includes various activities promoting Vietnamese phở.

Nam Định has been considered a cradle of the dish with many generations specialising in cooking phở that originated from two villages, namely Vân Cù and Giao Cù in today’s Nam Trực District.

They have settled down in many areas of the country and opened phở restaurants. VNS