Rice noodle soup (pho) is a favourite dish for Vietnamese. In the Lao capitalof Vientiane, pho shops are meeting places for Vietnamese expatriates andlocals alike.

Every weekend Nguyen Van Thuan drives to Pho Mai-Hanoishop in Naxay Road in Vientiane, to have a bowl of pho with half-done beef (photai) and savours the taste.

The 45-year-old, from Nam Dinh Province,has worked as a civil engineer in Laos for a year. It's his favourite time,after a hard day's work, to enjoy his pho and chat with his countrymen.

"There's not much difference between pho in Laos and that which I wasused to in Vietnam," Thuan says. "It tastes just like home. Rice noodle, springonion and parsley all are available here."

"I miss my family and pho somuch. I'm lucky to have every thing here where pho stalls have mushroomed."

For 1km, Naxay Road is known as Vietnam Town. It is crowded withVietnamese restaurants and cafes, but the majority are pho stalls.

Eachshop has its own style, depending on where the Vietnamese owners come from: thenorth, central region or south. However the basic pho recipe consists of brothcooked from a mixture of boiled beef's bones, cardamon and cinamon. Noodles aremade from starch and cooked rice.

There are full noodle soup varieties,including pho ga (with chicken), pho xao (stirfried beef and noodle) but pho tai(with half-done beef), pho chin (well done beef) or tai chin (mixed well-doneand half-done beef) are often ordered.

Among the shops are Pho Sai GonCafe and Pho Mai- Hanoi (Mai's Hanoi ), the latter being a hot favourite.

Owner of Pho Mai, Nguyen Thi Mai, said she used a recipe she picked upfrom leading cooks in Hanoi .

"Sorting out materials carefully is animportant step to making the best soup," Mai, 50, said. "Bones must be scrapedclean of meat before boiling through the night with anise seeds, cardamon,ginger, grilled dried onion and cinamon."

"The broth must be clear andtasty, but not too fatty. We also make our own rice noodles to ensure the pho isthe best."

A Vietnamese resident in Laos for 20 years, Tran Manh Chien,said he had pho almost every morning so he had managed to sort out the best tohis taste.

"I like to eat Hanoian pho at Mai's stall because of theflavour. It makes my mouth water just thinking of it, even though I was not bornin Hanoi ," Chien said.

The 56-year-old businessman, who owns asilverware shop at Talat Sao (morning market), says he has tried pho at manydifferent shops.

"Pho at Thong's stall comes in a bigger bowl with morebeef and noodles, but it is too salty and has too much monosodium glutamate,while pho at the Sai Gon restaurant has too much sugar, in the southern Vietnamstyle."

At the opposite end of Naxay Road , Lao people cook pho in theirown style.

They don't use ginger, cinamon and dried onion as theVietnamese do. Their soup is stewed bones with little spice, but the bowl isbigger and Lao people use it to eat with different vegetables.

Stallowner Xixangga Thonvilay said even Vietnamese go there to eat pho.

"There is a difference between Vietnamese and Lao pho. Lao eaters likeit spicy. They have pho with vegetables: bean sprouts, cabbage, eggplant andChinese pea, plus basil," Xixangga, 30, said.

"Sugar, fish sauce andsoya sauce are the main flavours to Lao pho. For the Vietnamese customers, Idon't add boiled beef blood, dried squid and mince."

She also added thatpho had somewhat changed lunch diets for local public servants.

XunthonRatthavong, a patron of Xixangga's restaurant, said he loved to have pho forlunch.

"I eat pho at lunch time rather than sticky rice, papaya saladand grilled fish as is the Lao tradition. I have traditional foods with myfamily for dinner," Xunthon says.

Xixangga says Lao people enjoy the newtaste of pho, but they still prefer traditional foods./.