Ingredients
Pho
- 2 pieces Chicken Breast and Leg/Thigh quarter
- 4 cups Chicken Broth
- 1 whole Onion Sliced
- 1 chunk Ginger Sliced
- 1 bunch Cilantro Half for the broth; Half for the topping
- 1 stick Cinnamon
- 1 tbsp Peppercorns
- 6 whole Cloves
Toppings
- 1 bunch Cilantro
- 2 whole Limes Cut in quarters
- 1 cup Mung Bean Sprouts
- 1 bunch Green Onion Sliced
- 1 whole Jalapeno Sliced
Instructions
Chicken + Pho
- Trim the fat off of your chicken.
- Add your chicken broth, sliced onion, garlic, and ginger to a pot
- Add in your chicken, herbs and spices (cilantro, peppercorns, cinnamon stick and cloves)
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Bring to a strong boil for about 20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.
- While the broth is boiling, chop up the veggies you'll use in the soup.
- Remove the chicken from the pot.
- Strain the broth.
- Shred the chicken.
- Season shrimp with salt and pepper and saute for 1 minute on each side.
- Once rice noodles are cooked, top with shredded chicken, ladle broth, add shrimp and veggies, and you're ready to serve.
Rice Noodles
- Boil hot water (a tea kettle speeds things up).
- Place rice noodles in a bowl.
- Pour hot water over rice noodles.
- Let rice noodles sit for 7-10 minutes (depending on your preference).
- Drain rice noodles. Add to bowls.
Notes
I tried Pho Ga (fuh – ga ~ chicken soup) for the first time during a trip to the Netherlands. Pho is a Vietnamese rice noodle soup served with various meats, herbs and sauces.
Since my first time trying Pho, I've been on the hunt for the best bowl of Pho I could get my hands on. Call me obsessive, but its to the point where I'm searching for pho everywhere I go. I guess you can call me a pho-natic.
I wanted to re-create my new favorite soup at home, so I started doing research on the ingredients and making notes on the flavors I was experiencing with each bowl. I learned that the right mix of herbs and veggies is the key to the PERFECT bowl of pho. Also, being able to spare 6 hours is great, too.
Yes, you read that right ….That's SIX hours; Six hours I've managed to get down to 30 minutes because I'm far too busy (and impatient) to wait that long.
Start by trimming the fat off your chicken. You can use any pieces you'd like – I used a breast and a leg/thigh quarter. Add your chicken broth, sliced onion, garlic, and ginger to a pot, then season with salt and pepper to taste. We want to make this broth as flavorful as possible.
Add in your chicken, herbs and spices (cilantro, peppercorns, cinnamon stick and cloves), then bring to a strong boil for about 20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. It's okay to leave everything whole because you'll strain it a bit later.
While the chicken is boiling, go ahead and chop up the veggies you'll use in the soup. I love the traditional cilantro, bean sprouts, jalapeno, green onion and lime, but you can use whatever you'd like, really. Just make sure its all fresh!
You can also begin working on your rice noodles. If you've never had rice noodles, you're in for a treat. They taste just like …. rice. Go figure. Rice noodles are a great substitute for pasta if you are gluten-free! To prepare the rice noodles, remove them from their packaging and add them to a bowl. Pour hot water over them and just leave them alone. In about 7-10 minutes (depending on the texture you enjoy) they will be done. Tip: If you have a tea kettle you can use that to boil the water quickly.
This is what the rice noodles look like when they are done. Yummy, right? You can put the noodles in the fridge to chill and prevent them from clumping together while you finish the rest of the dish.
Once the chicken is done, remove it from the pot and strain the liquid. This will catch all of the spices and things left behind in the broth that we don't want. Be sure to use your spoon to push the liquid out of the veggies and through the strainer. All of that is extra flavor and we want it!
What you'll be left with is a beautiful rich broth.
And now we are ready to build our bowls. By the way, the chicken should have fallen apart while boiling, but if not, just go ahead and shred it. It should be cool enough to handle with your fingers by now.
That's the cool thing about Pho – all of the components can be made ahead of time and chilled. The hot broth will warm everything up to the perfect temperature once its ladled over.
I'm very into plating my dishes the way I want them to be experienced when eaten, so I have a specific way I like to build my Pho: Noodles, chicken, broth, shrimp, veggies.
Top it off with chili garlic sauce and/or soy sauce, and you've got a 6 hour soup in 30 minutes. Not bad, huh?
Ingredients
Pho
- 2 pieces Chicken Breast and Leg/Thigh quarter
- 4 cups Chicken Broth
- 1 whole Onion Sliced
- 1 chunk Ginger Sliced
- 1 bunch Cilantro Half for the broth; Half for the topping
- 1 stick Cinnamon
- 1 tbsp Peppercorns
- 6 whole Cloves
Toppings
- 1 bunch Cilantro
- 2 whole Limes Cut in quarters
- 1 cup Mung Bean Sprouts
- 1 bunch Green Onion Sliced
- 1 whole Jalapeno Sliced
Instructions
Chicken + Pho
- Trim the fat off of your chicken.
- Add your chicken broth, sliced onion, garlic, and ginger to a pot
- Add in your chicken, herbs and spices (cilantro, peppercorns, cinnamon stick and cloves)
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Bring to a strong boil for about 20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.
- While the broth is boiling, chop up the veggies you'll use in the soup.
- Remove the chicken from the pot.
- Strain the broth.
- Shred the chicken.
- Season shrimp with salt and pepper and saute for 1 minute on each side.
- Once rice noodles are cooked, top with shredded chicken, ladle broth, add shrimp and veggies, and you're ready to serve.
Rice Noodles
- Boil hot water (a tea kettle speeds things up).
- Place rice noodles in a bowl.
- Pour hot water over rice noodles.
- Let rice noodles sit for 7-10 minutes (depending on your preference).
- Drain rice noodles. Add to bowls.
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