At Vietya, we insist on using fresh noodle pho. We have only used fresh pho since our establishment. We have no plans to change this even if prices rise even higher in the future.
This is because the use of fresh noodles is the traditional secret of pho. Since modern times, the production of dried pho has become popular, but dried pho has several weaknesses.
The first is that dried noodles cannot absorb much of the flavor and aroma of soup.
Rice flour in dried noodles is condensed and has almost no space to absorb the broth. Fresh pho noodles, on the other hand, can absorb the flavor and aroma of the soup because they have the same water supply as rice. Even before you put them in your mouth, the noodles give off a soft aroma of the soup and rice combined. When you bite into the noodle, you can feel the flavor of the soup seeping out of the noodle as well as the chunky texture of the noodle that has absorbed a lot of the soup.
Second, dried noodles can have a distinctive aroma of chemical manufacturing. We often hear that people who are sensitive to aromas, especially pregnant women, are not very fond of this aroma. It cannot be said that fresh pho noodles have no smell at all, but even if they do, it is only the smell of rice flour, so it is not so different from the smell of rice that we are usually familiar with.
Third, fresh pho noodles are considered more digestible. Since fresh pho noodles do not undergo the process of drying and then boiling again, they are similar to rice that has been cooked for the first time. This “first time” is considered easier to digest because there is no transformation of the rice flour. There is no scientific proof of this, but it is just one of Bettoya’s healthy-oriented points of view.
Using fresh pho noodles is not only difficult, but also requires a lot of ingenuity.
| Fresh noodle pho | Dried Pho Noodles | |
| custody | Refrigerated storage for several days | Can be stored at room temperature for many years |
| defrosting | Need to defrost slowly | No defrosting required |
| Boiling Skills | Noodles break easily and require boiling skills | Hardness makes it almost impossible to cut. |
Despite these difficulties, our staff is working hard every day to provide traditional Vietnamese cuisine in Japan. We use fresh pho noodles for all of our pho dishes, so whether it is beef pho or chicken pho, we hope you will enjoy the feeling of the traditional pho broth and fresh pho noodles.
