Phở Rán: Hanoi's Fried Phở with Beef Sauce

Phở rán is fried phở, a dish that comes from Hanoi. The cook takes sheets of phở noodle, cuts them into squares and fries them over a low flame, then fries them again when a customer orders.

What it’s like

On the plate, the pieces look a bit like slices of pizza. They taste slightly sweet, with a crisp outside and a soft inside.

Phở rán is eaten with a hot beef sauce, and the sauce is what makes the dish. It’s a bowl of hot broth with beef, onion, spring onion, carrot and some pork offal. You can add vinegar and herbs for more flavour.

Cucumber pickled in vinegar goes with it too. Its sour, spicy taste makes it easy to keep eating.

Where the writer ate it

The original writer ate phở rán at a restaurant at 10–16 Nguyễn Siêu Street in Hanoi. From 7 pm the customers start to pile in. Late autumn, when Hanoi’s weather turns cool, is a good time to go out for it. On their first visit, the writer ate 3 bowls.

Price

When this was written, a portion of phở rán in Hanoi cost 15,000–20,000, less than $1.