Tao Pho

The tao pho seller, Anh Cuong, stops his bike at our door every weekday morning around 11 am. Usually I get a small bowl from the kitchen and take it to him in the street. He fills it with tao pho, brings it in, receives his VND 2,000 payment with a shy smile and I enjoy the fruits of his nighttime labour.

Selling tao pho is a competitive business. Between 6 am and noon four vendors ply their trade in Ngo Van So and surrounding streets, their distinctive, melodious cry of “ tao pho” bouncing off the alley walls. I’m a bit like Winnie the Pooh (the original gentle, whimsical bear of A.A.Milne, not the abrasive, go-getting marketer invented by Walt Disney). I often feel like something sweet and healthy for elevenses and a bowl of Anh Cuong’s white custardy confection hits the spot.

Making tao pho is a cottage industry. Nearly every night Cuong and his family soak dried soya-beans, grind them up, boil the mixture in the water to make milky liquid, strain it and then add gypsum, which acts as a coagulant. Just enough gypsum is used so that the end result is a custardy, silken tofu. This is allowed to stand in its pot which, when cool, is transferred to the bicycle with the other necessary accoutrements and Cuong cycles to our neighbourhood and commences to sing his distinctive refrain.

Any adventurous western traveler can enjoy tao pho as a stand-up street snack. Show the vendor your VND 2,000 and he or she will take a bowl from the pile they carry, take the lid off the large metal pot and start to skim thin layers of the still-warm substance into the bowl with a flat spoon or, traditionally, a razor-slim mother- of-pearl shell.When it’s three-quarters full, ice will be spooned on top, unless you object, and a clear, thin syrup made of boiled sugar water flavoured with small, fragrant, white flowers poured over it. By itself tao pho is bland and slightly bitter so don’t forgo the juice. If you’re lucky some petals will end up in your bowl. You eat it with the soup spoon provided ( or, like me, drink straight). When you’ve finished, hand back your bowl and say “ rat ngon”-very delicious !

Any Vietnamese will tell you that tao pho is a perfect snack for small children and old people. If there’s a crowd, you will be enjoying the taste sensation with old ladies, toddlers, gnarled old men and pregnant women. So if you’re a macho male swallow your pride and eat up becait’s really good for you. Like all tofu products its isoflavones ward off prostate cancer, help prevent osteoporosis and can help control menopausal symptoms in women. It’s reach in protein, is a source of calcium and has anti-oxidant properties. Not only all that, but it also helps lower high cholesterol.

When in Hanoi, forget the mid-morning pastry or the urgent tummy rumble for a big Mac or fat-sodden donut. Support the tao pho sellers. They could be an endangered species as Vietnamese cities become globalized and sweet and fatty western food fads disastrously win over the oriental palate.

Source The Guide