Corn Pho – An Exquisite Delight Drawing Visitors in the Ha Giang Stone Plateau

Corn Pho is a unique and creatively crafted dish by the people of the Ha Giang stone plateau. With its captivating appearance and delightful aroma, it has stolen the hearts of many travelers here.

Corn Pho – An Exquisite Delight Drawing Visitors in the Ha Giang Stone Plateau

Corn is the main staple of the Hmong ethnic people in the Ha Giang stone plateau. Using corn as the main ingredient, locals have transformed it into various dishes such as corn rice, corn porridge, and corn pho. Among them, the corn pho in Quan Ba, Ha Giang, previously featured at the autumn festival in Hanoi from September 29 to October 1, has attracted the curiosity of many diners due to its enticing flavor.

The combination of pho cooking techniques from the lowlands with ingredients from the high stone plateau has led to corn pho from Ha Giang being listed among the 121 typical Vietnamese dishes in 2022.

It is known that producing corn pho is an extremely complex process. The process of selecting corn kernels must involve choosing small, short corn with plenty of starch and a pleasant sweet aroma. To achieve shiny yellow pho noodles, the corn kernels need to have their cores separated, dried, lightly ground, cleaned, and soaked for at least 8 hours to allow them to swell and be easily ground into flour, which is then mixed with water. To produce the finished pho noodles, the cook uses a spoon to spread the batter onto a steamer, then waits for them to cook for 2-3 minutes until the batter is evenly cooked and can be removed.

Cold pho cakes are folded into rectangular pieces and thinly sliced. This requires technique to ensure the cakes remain intact and the strands are not broken. The 'soul' of the pho lies in the broth. The broth is simmered from beef for many hours, infused with a few vegetables from the stone plateau region, enhanced with cinnamon, star anise, blending with golden pho noodles. The more you eat, the more you'll be addicted to the unique flavor of this special dish.

As per Mytour

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Reference: Travel Guide by Mytour