CNN recently recommended Vietnamese beef pho in its nominations of the 20 best soups around the world.

Originating in northern Vietnam, pho is a noodle dish served with hot broth cooked from beef or chicken.

In a story updated last week, CNN Travel celebrated beef pho (pho bo) from Vietnam together with other soup dishes from the country’s Asian neighbors including mohinga from Myanmar, soto ayam from Indonesia, tom yum goong from Thailand, tonkotsu ramen from Japan, and Lanzhou beef noodle soup from China.

Other soup dishes from around the globe also made it to the list, namely banga from Nigeria; borscht from Ukraine; bouillabaisse from France; caldo verde from Portugal; chorba frik from Algeria, Libya and Tunisia; chupe de camarones from Peru; gazpacho from Spain; groundnut soup from West Africa; gumbo from the U.S.; harira from Morocco; kharcho from Georgia; menudo from Mexico; moqueca de camarão from Brazil; and yayla çorbasi from Turkey. 

“Broth is simmered for hours with cinnamon, star anise and other warm spices to create a wonderfully aromatic base for this rice noodle soup,” CNN wrote of pho.

Northen-style 'pho' is served at a restaurant on Ly Chinh Thang Street in District 3, Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Dong Nguyen / Tuoi Tre News

This is not the first time CNN has celebrated Vietnamese pho in its global rankings. 

Last year, CNN Travel also ranked pho 28th in its selection for the world's 50 best foods published in a story in April 2021. 

“This oft-mispronounced national dish ("fuh" is correct) is just broth, fresh rice noodles, a few herbs and usually chicken or beef. But it's greater than the sum of its parts - fragrant, tasty and balanced,” the channel explained about pho.

In Vietnam, pho has long been considered the country’s national dish and no doubt its most famous food, with its name being defined in many English dictionaries such as Cambridge, Oxford, Merriam-Webster, and Collins Cobuild.

There are two main types of pho in Vietnam, including pho bo with broth cooked from beef bone and topped with beef, and pho ga consisting of chicken broth and topped with chicken meat.

The dish is also made and served differently in different regions in Vietnam, from north to south.

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Tuoi Tre News