Does anybody know of a quicker cook banh pho noodle beside the fresh kind? The dry banh pho requires like 8 to 10 minutes to cook, so I’d looking for something faster and maybe easier/cleaner to do. Thanks.
I was wondering the same thing. Would be nice to be able to cook banh pho faster and less messy.
I think there is a quick banh pho that comes in one of those quick serve individual portion bags. I don’t remember the name but I do remember the brand has green color and maybe bo de is part of the name. Cooks quite fast. In fact you can pour boiling water in then can drain within a minute or two. Very al dente and texture is very good. Maybe someone else can chime in.
The fresh banh pho is always going to the best and quickest. Short of having fresh banh pho available, you may want to try one of the items available in Asian supermarket recently. Two that come to mind are the Bình Tây Phở Chay brand and the 3 Miền Phở Khô Rice Noodles (some photos below).
Note that many of these are single portion packs complete with small flavor and oil packs inside for a full meal, like other "instant" noodle and ramen. If you've already made pho broth at home, then just use the noodle and not the flavor packs. Some if not all of these brands do have larger packaging for sale if you you look around in the same supermarket.
My own verdict is, these are pretty good quality. Just pour boiling hot water and you have great pho noodle in about 2 minutes if even that. If you decide to put it the traditional way in boiling pot of water then you'll probably need only 30 seconds or less, otherwise you'll over cook it.
Let us know how you make out.
Binh Tay brand
@chuynh
Thanks for this tip. This is awesome! Anything less than 5 minutes makes me happy. I get to eat my pho much sooner !! ? ? ? Will try to see if they have these at the local 99Ranch.
@chuynh
This is great stuff. I've done the green Pho Chay one and the banh pho noodle is great.
I have eaten the green Pho Chay many times and it's very good. The noodle is good, the flavor pack does not have "pho" flavor but more than good enough for any time pho.
Hmm if they make commercial packs for these then pho restaurants can save tons of time and labor expenses, given the quality is good.
