The Origins of Pho. Pho was born in Northern Vietnam during the mid-1880s. ... In fact, it is believed that "pho" is derived from "pot au feu" a French soup. Vietnamese cooks blended the Chinese, French and native influences to make a dish that is uniquely Vietnamese. People look at a bowl of pho and they think it's an ancient food, but it's not. It was invented sometime around the beginning of the 20th century in and around Hanoi; it's a Northern Vietnamese food. If you look at a map of Vietnam, Hanoi is very close to the Chinese.The general theory held by most Vietnamese culinary experts is that the word "pho" is a corruption of the French "feu" or "fire." Pho could be a Vietnamese adaptation of the French soup "pot au feu" or French beef stew, which the French brought to Vietnam when they came to rule the country.