Ask someone to name a Vietnamese dish, and he or she will most likely say pho (rhymes with "duh"). Pho has changed much during it's nearly 100-year history.

Inventive cooks then developed the raw beef verson (pho bo tai) and chcken pho (pho ga), and during wartime when beef was scarce, they made pork pho (pho lon). Through these and other variations exist, most people define pho as a beefy affair.

 

American bowls of pho or about 30 percent bigger than what's found at a street-side joint in Vietnam. Also, American pho restaurants regularly offer diners myriad options to personalize their bowls : raw beef, cooked beef (such as brisket, flap or outside flank) tendon, tripe and meatballs.

Typically your bowl of pho will arrive at your table with the broth, rice noodles and meat of your choice.  Along with the bowl you will have a plate with fresh bean sprouts, basil, lime and jalapeno. Add as much or as little as desired.

You also have the choice to add hoison sauce and or chili sauce to sweeten or spice it up according to your palet.