Flat rice noodles in a long-simmered aromatic broth, most classically beef (phở bò) or chicken (phở gà), finished with herbs and onion.
Most often eaten for breakfast in Vietnam. Diners adjust their own bowl with lime, chili, herbs, and sauces. Slurping is fine; the broth is the point.
North (origin) · nationwide
Northern phở is leaner and broth-forward, served with little more than green onion. Southern phở is sweeter and richer and arrives with a plate of bean sprouts, Thai basil, culantro, lime and chili. Because most early refugee communities came from the south, southern-style phở is the version best known abroad.
Phở travels as shorthand for Vietnam itself, but inside families it is often about a specific bowl — a grandmother's broth, a shop on a particular corner, the first meal after landing somewhere new.