History · 5 min
Did Pho Come from French Pot-au-Feu or China?
Three serious theories explain the origin of pho — French pot-au-feu, Chinese ngưu nhục phấn, or Vietnamese improvisation. None is fully pro…
Blog
Notes from the kitchen.
Honest essays on Vietnamese food. The questions we get asked, the answers nobody quite agrees on, and how it all shows up in our broth.
Technique · 5 min
Why Restaurant Pho Tastes Different from Home
Restaurant pho tastes deeper, cleaner, and more layered than home pho — even when home cooks use the same recipe. The reasons: scale, time, …
History · 4 min
Who Invented Modern Banh Mi?
Most sources credit Hòa Mã in Saigon in 1958 as the inventor of modern banh mi — but that's the shop that first sold the assembled sandwich.…
Beverages · 4 min
Is Weasel Coffee Real?
Most weasel coffee sold today — including Trung Nguyên's Legendee — is enzyme-simulated, not actually civet-processed. And even the genuine …
Culture · 5 min
Why Vietnamese Food Lags Thai Globally
Vietnamese cuisine is arguably more diverse and as well-developed as Thai — but Thai restaurants outnumber Vietnamese roughly five to one in…
Ingredients · 4 min
Real Nuoc Mam: Nitrogen Content Explained
Vietnam's 2019 attempt to set a national fish sauce standard collapsed under industry pressure. There's still no consumer-facing standard. H…
Ingredients · 4 min
Tía Tô vs. Shiso: Same Plant, Different Flavor
Vietnamese tía tô and Japanese shiso are the same species (Perilla frutescens), but different cultivars with different terpene profiles. Coo…
Technique · 4 min
The Right Ratio for Nước Chấm
Andrea Nguyen, Vicky Pham, and Hungry Huy all publish different nước chấm ratios. Every Vietnamese grandmother insists hers is correct. Here…
Culture · 4 min
Why Bún Bò Huế Isn't Everywhere
Anthony Bourdain put bún bò Huế on a pedestal. Most Vietnamese cooks say it's more complex than phở. So why is it almost unknown outside Vie…
Technique · 4 min
Charring Onion and Ginger for Pho: The Science
Every phở recipe demands charring the ginger and onion. The Maillard explanation is hand-waved. Nobody has measured whether charred-vs-raw a…