Thao’s Grandparent’s Story

In my family, Pho isn't just simply a bowl of steaming delicious food. It is a family secret, it is livelihood, it is what my granddad relied on to feed his big family of 10 kids, and later helped others to feed their families through the famine of 1940s.  

My granddad was working as a sous chef in a French restaurant in Nam Dinh when he met my grandma. That was around the time when Pho was being born in Nam Dinh, out of a French type of broth and Vietnamese noodles and herbs.  Granddad was the son of a concubine, and grandma was the daughter of a restaurant owner.  Grandma's parents were adamant that the two were not to be together and grandma was told that she would get cut off if she disobeyed.

She left anyway and went to live with granddad.  Together they started a young family and earning a living by peddling Pho.

Their Pho shop consisted of only two big baskets that my granddad carried on his shoulders with a bar made out of bamboo.  In one basket he had a big pot of Pho broth and an oil stove to keep the broth hot.  In another basket he had the noodles and meat and herbs.  My grandma would never be far behind, carrying two basket on a bamboo bar herself, in one basket would be my auntie who was about 2 years old and the other basket contained the few items that made up their belongings.

Their Pho became popular quickly thanks to a special recipe that granddad developed and kept a secret.  The peddling pho shop provided them with a livelihood and also helped many to survive.  During the famine of the 1940s the villagers from around Nam Dinh followed my granddad's peddling Pho shop to help him and he would feed them.  He also taught a few of them how to make Pho.  When he died there were people traveling from Nam Dinh to Hanoi where my family lived to say goodbye to him.  They told my brother that they were there because granddad saved their family during the famine.

Granddad and grandma later moved to Hanoi from Nam Dinh and opened a Pho shop that became famous.  He would wake up from 3am and starting slicing meat and chopping herbs and preparing the broth.  Sometimes he would still be half asleep and would be having his eyes half closed while standing up, my auntie said, still slicing and chopping.  My grandma and the kids would wake up later to help him.  They worked very hard, but I suppose that's what it took to feed such a big family.

Pho connects me to my grandparents and my family tradition.  I love travelling to new cities, and also move around a bit for work.  Whenever I go to a new place one of the first things I do is to go looking for a bowl of Pho.  As I nurse the steaming bowl of hot Pho soup and take in the aroma, I'm instantly comforted and feel safe and familiar, doesn't matter where I am in the world and how strange the environment is.  I get reminded of where I come from, a family and a country of survival and resilience.