pho-nomenal.

Posted on | November 23, 2009 | 4 Comments

it’s really no secret how much i like pho. i talk about it frequently and dream about eating it daily. if asked to choose between pho and a good vietnemese noodle salad, i would probably keel over from the sheer pressure of it all. since the only pho place in the Harbor charges over 14 bucks for a bowl of pho (but to it’s credit, the chicken that it comes with is freaking amazing), and i refuse to drive to tacoma everytime i want some (which is daily), i decided to try to make some at home.

many of the recipes i found online were authentic, but a little too time intensive for me. i want it now. i stumbled across this easy recipe at Soon, Then and it sounded right up my alley – easy. today i ventured to the store, which was kind of a dumb idea since it’s so close to turkey day and the crazies were out in effect, and bought all the goods to make scot and i some steaming bowls of chicken pho (or pho ga as you’ll see it at restaraunts). scot prefers the beef and meatball variety, but i like the lightness of the chicken broth so i always order chicken. the ingredients were fairly easy to find at the regular grocery store, and once you have the spices and sauces, you just need to buy the noodles, meat and veggies the next time you want to make it.

shopping list:

• 10 cups chicken broth
• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 1 1/4 ounces fresh ginger, 4 1/2 inch thick slices
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 3 cloves garlic, halved
• 2 star anise
• 10 whole cloves
• 2 large skinless, boneless chicken breast, trimmed
• 8 ounces fresh bean sprouts
• 16 ounces rice stick noodles or udon noodles
• 3 green onions, sliced
• 1 or 2 limes, cut into wedges
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro

do this:

1] combine broth, chicken breasts, garlic, onion and fish sauce in large pot and bring to simmer. i sauteed the garlic & onions for a few minutes before adding the rest.

2]combine the ginger, cloves & star anise in a tea difuser and submerge in the soup.

3] simmer for about 30-40 minutes until the chicken in cooked through. remove chicken and cut into small pieces (i used 2 forks to pull it apart into shredded chunks) and put back in the broth.

4] follow directions for whatever noodles you buy. the ones i got (thin rice vermicelli) called for a 15 minute soak in cold water and then add to the soup for 10 minutes at the end.

5] remove the tea infuser, discard spices, and ladle the soup/chicken/noodles/deliciousness into large bowls.

6] add sprouts, cilantro and lime to your liking. i personally enjoy a ton of sriracha, lots of sprouts & cilantro with no lime. scot prefers hoisin, sriracha, sprouts and basil with lots of lime.

7] shove in your piehole repeatedly using chopsticks.

scot had 2nds and we still have at least 2 or 3 heaping bowls left for tomorrow (or after i finish posting this). it was delicious and easy and i’m really excited that i can make it anytime now. my next attempt will be to make my favorite vietnemese salad bowl. my friend bree and i eat them like they are going out of style and it’s kind of our “thing” to go and eat them whenever possible.

if you like pho, try this recipe! and let me know what you think. some big yummy prawns would also be nice floating in this soup if you’re into that sort of thing (which i am).

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