Representative of Dat Viet Pho Teaching Center instructs students on how to cook pho – Photo: D.V.
In addition to domestic students, many pho cooking schools also attract Vietnamese students from Korea, Japan, etc. to study.
All kinds of classes, teachers teach… how to cook pho
On Facebook, the fanpage “Learning to cook pho, Hanoi pho kitchen association” has more than 164,200 members. Here, many members are like reputable online teachers, regularly posting pho recipes, even giving enthusiastic instructions on how to run a pho restaurant…
A member named Minh Quang posted that he has been cooking pho for over 10 years and has come up with many delicious pho recipes, especially the broth. This person shared a very specific recipe for cooking pho for 100 liters of water such as: 19kg of beef bones, 1 liter of fish sauce, 250g of rock sugar, 50g of cinnamon, star anise, and cardamom...
A member named Ngoc My said she is in Taiwan and loves cooking, especially pho, so she asked to learn from the group members.
Similarly, just type the phrase "teaching how to cook pho" on Facebook, a series of groups appear, each group has from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of members participating in posting and discussing about pho business, cooking pho...
Meanwhile, not only teaching online, with more than 20 years of experience as a chef, Mr. Hoang Duong - CEO, head chef of Dat Viet Pho Cooking and Business Center (Hanoi) - said that he has "eaten and slept" with pho for many years and chose to open a center to teach cooking and do business with pho for more than a year...
According to Mr. Duong, he realized that many pho businesses failed because they could not manage their operations, and especially did not have enough skills to cook and maintain delicious pho. Based on that reality, he struggled and established the center.
Specifically, in the class, in addition to standard recipes, students also learn how to use ingredients, find ingredients from the most reputable places such as clean salt in Nam Dinh province, sea worms (which sweeten water and have a rich flavor) in Quang Ninh, star anise petals from Lang Son, 20-30 year old cinnamon from Yen Bai, the best cardamom in Lao Cai region...
Besides learning how to cook pho, students learn how to operate and manage a store such as how to create a menu, control costs, manage staff, services, etc.
“5 days of intensive study, plus 7 days of practice right at the restaurant will help students master the processing and business. We are confident in bringing students the best, providing ingredients at original prices,” Mr. Duong affirmed.
Meanwhile, the website hoclambanhngon and the Facebook account named “Dây làm bánh chu Quân và cô Na” regularly post information and images about cooking courses, baking of all kinds, and especially pho cooking courses with the commitment of “money back if not delicious”.
Talking to Tuoi Tre Online , the representative of this unit said that although they are teaching many dishes, they are most confident in the "Pho cooking class" with an experienced "instructor" over 60 years old.
“Over time, many students have opened shops and have been quite successful. If it is not convenient to study directly in Ho Chi Minh City, students can easily register for online study. It only takes a short time, even a few hours, to master the course,” he affirmed.
Currently, the tuition fee for direct learning is 3 million VND/student (including tools and materials), and for online learning via Zalo social network account is 1.5 million VND.
Korean and Japanese tourists come to Vietnam to learn how to cook pho.
Mr. Hoang Duong said that the unit's biggest wish when opening the pho teaching center is to spread the original Northern pho flavor to all regions, even beyond the territory of Vietnam, helping diners understand more about Vietnamese cuisine, helping many people understand and do good business with this dish.
Currently, in addition to direct training mainly for students in the North, Mr. Duong said that many students from the Central and Southern regions have registered to study, and even Vietnamese people living in Korea, Japan, Australia, etc. have come to learn how to cook pho.
“Many foreign students choose to return to Vietnam to learn how to cook pho with the aim of going to Korea or Japan to open a pho shop. The demand for pho is not only limited to the domestic market, but has spread to many countries,” Mr. Duong affirmed.
The broth is considered the main factor that determines the flavor of pho - Photo: D.V.
According to the representative of this center, although it has not advertised much, the number of students coming to study is quite regular with an average of 3 classes opening per month, 5-7 students per class.
Depending on the needs, the tuition fee will be different. Specifically, direct learning costs 10-25 million VND/student; and 3-5 million VND if studying online. If studying fully, students will be taught and practiced for 5-7 days (including learning tools, materials, accommodation), in addition to additional internships right at the school for many days.
Meanwhile, despite being a large-scale production unit that exports tons of all kinds of pho each month, Duy Anh Food Company (HCMC) still supports teaching customers how to cook pho.
According to the representative of this unit, with 2 main types of pho: white pho made from regular rice, and brown pho made from brown rice, which are being exported to Korea, Japan... in the form of dry pho, they are doing quite well. They are researching to produce more new types of pho to serve consumers, especially for the Korean market because the demand for pho here is quite diverse...
In addition to selling, this unit said it has a specialized force to support and guide domestic and foreign customers in learning how to cook delicious pho.
“Cooking pho in Vietnam is often simpler than abroad because all the ingredients are available. But no matter where you are, to cook delicious, unique, and successful pho is a secret.”
According to Mr. Hoang Duong, after nearly 20 years of researching pho, he has noticed that not only Vietnamese people but also more and more foreigners are fond of this dish. Therefore, the cooperation of Tuoi Tre newspaper with other units to initiate and maintain the Pho Day program is necessary to help Vietnamese cuisine spread widely.
Meanwhile, as one of many units participating in displaying pho products in the Vietnam Pho Festival 2024 taking place on October 5 and 6 in Seoul (South Korea) co-organized by Tuoi Tre newspaper, a representative of Duy Anh Food Company said that they proactively participated in the program as soon as they received the information and will maintain this activity regularly because it helps promote, especially since South Korea is the leading pho import market.
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