Hot soup: Vietnam is a country divided by a common pho

By Emma Irving

Pho is the perfect food for the lone eater: a bowl of noodles is not meant to be shared. A rich broth packed with slim, slithery noodle strands and tender beef, this is comfort food at its sweet and spicy best. But this simple soup has a tangled history. Forget the storm in a teacup. Pho is the story of independence in a warm, soupy bowl.

If you wander the streets of Hanoi today, you’ll find countless pho vendors jostling with banh mi bakeries and stalls selling salted pineapple, all luring customers with the promise of delicious Vietnamese cuisine. Go back 150 years and many of these foods had only just arrived.