Now, you may not know what ten pounds of pho would look like but it’s essentially a family-sized serving. It’s a pretty intense amount of food. And, to down it in 45 minutes, that’s pretty extreme. This food challenge by iPho by Saigon was a strategy from manager Thinh Pham to generate publicity in Minnesota in 2017. Since then, it’s helped to spread the word about the restaurant’s location and has brought in thousands of people to try their pho.
For those who haven’t had pho before, it’s a staple of Vietnamese cuisine. There are 100-year old recipes that have been brought over to North America by families and which have been passed down from one generation to the next. To understand a little bit about what exactly pho is, it’s basically a Vietnamese soup. It’s made from a broth accomplished by herbs and spices. There’s protein of some kind, whether it’s beef, chicken, pork, or tofu. There’s also rice noodles, in addition to any other ingredients which could be bean sprouts or other similar ingredients.
According to those at iPho by Saigon, roughly 1 in every 20 people actually end up completing the challenge. What do you get if you win? The $20 soup comes free and you also get a t-shirt saying, “I am the pho-king champ.” Phonetically, it’s an acknowledgement difficult not to smile at. According to iPho by Saigon owner, the fastest winner to eat the whole thing did so in 7.5 minutes. What’s particularly challenging with pho is that it’s a soup and so, as it’s served, it’s not like you can dig in immediately. You’ve got to drop in some ice cubs, stir, cool it down, and only then can you begin chomping down on the bit.
For those that haven’t had pho before, we’re not saying you should try to eat as much as you can. That’s not really what pho is about. Like in other Vietnamese dishes, pho is about balance. The ingredients used in pho are selected carefully so that the most balanced broth and dish is achieved.
Although it used to be predominantly a street food in Vietnam, these days, there are pho restaurants all over Canada. For the best pho in Toronto, there’s only one place to go. Toronto Pho specializes in pho and other East Asian dishes. Enjoy tasty broth, rice noodles, a selection of meats, and more. Authentically prepared and a specialty among specialties, you won’t find a bowl of pho as delicious as ours anywhere in the GTA. Visit Toronto Pho today to see what others have been raving about!
