Google Doodle honours Vietnam’s "Pho"

Search engines in 20 countries, including Vietnam, the UK, the US, Canada, Israel and Austria on December 12 feature a Google Doodle of "Pho" – Vietnamese traditional noodle soup.

Google said “today’s Doodle, illustrated by Hanoi, Vietnam-based guest artist Lucia Pham, honors pho, Vietnam’s national dish that is served as an aromatic soup brimming with savory broth, soft rice noodles, fresh herbs, and thinly sliced meat.”

On this day in 2018, December 12 was selected as the official day to celebrate Vietnamese "Pho", in honor of the beloved culinary treasure and the cultural fusion it represents.

What makes "Pho" distinct is a mindful cooking process to achieve multi-layered flavors and a clear broth. From ingredients like roasted ginger, fennel seed, star anise, and cinnamon for the simmered stock, the broth serves as the foundation for aromas and tastes for every palate.

While its exact origins are unknown, most historians think "Pho" was born in Vietnam’s northenr Nam Dinh province between the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Some believe that “Pho" comes from the word "Phan", a rice noodle dish. People started to use beef consommé to make an early predecessor to "Pho" - a simple but very popular noodle soup called "xao trau" which consisted of buffalo meat cooked in broth and rice vermicelli.

Traditionally, "Pho" is a breakfast dish sold in street food stalls but pho consumption has moved into everyday comfort food. Today, pho is eaten worldwide in countless variations such as pho tron (dry pho), pho ga (chicken pho), pho cuon (pho rolls) and many more. Everyone can agree that the noodle dish is a treasured element of Vietnamese heritage. Although current events have slowed the food markets, people are hopeful for their return where pho can be enjoyed as a shared, culinary moment in daily life again, according to Google.

In 2020, Google Doodle also honoured Vietnam’s banh mi as "the savory and satisfying Vietnamese street-food sandwich”.