What dish do some scholars argue pho evolved from?

Some scholars argue that pho evolved from xáo trâu, a Vietnamese dish.

Xáo trâu was associated with rural cuisine and the Hanoi area around the turn of the 20th century. It used strips of water-buffalo meat served in broth over rice vermicelli, making it a plausible local predecessor to a meat-and-noodle soup.

The proposed pathway is not a settled fact. Accounts of pho’s origins also discuss French culinary influence, Chinese noodle traditions, and related beef-noodle soups. The xáo trâu theory is therefore best stated as an argument made by some scholars, not as the universally proven origin of pho.

Historical descriptions connect the early street-food trade with cooks selling noodle dishes to workers. Over time, beef became more prominent, partly because inexpensive cuts and scraps were available through the colonial-era market. Modern pho uses flat rice noodles, usually beef or chicken, and a highly seasoned broth, so it is related to—but not identical with—the older dish.