Chicken Pho’
Serves 2.
A wonderful, nourishing winter warmer, this traditional Vietnamese style soup is surprisingly easy to whip up at home on the fly. The method of cooking the chicken is a great way to make a few extra fillets and keep them for salad or sandwich fillings.
If you have your own homemade stock, use that as a wonderful and even more nourishing alternative to the Pho’s soup base instructed here.
This is so incredibly delicious, enjoy and make sure you have lots of crisp, fresh greens on the side to mix through.
JC x
1 pack of dried rice noodles
2 tablespoons of whole coriander seeds
2 whole star anise
1 litre of chicken stock
1 whole chicken breast
1/2 a spanish onion
1 3-inch chunk of ginger sliced and smashed with a pestle or knife
1-2 tablespoons of brown sugar
1-2 tablespoons of fish sauce
Fresh coriander
Fresh chilli slices
Fresh lime and lemon in wedges (for squeezing into the soup)
5-6 thin slices/circles of spanish onion
Heat a saucepan over medium heat. Add the coriander seeds, star anise and toast until fragrant – this should only take 1-2 minutes. Remove from pan to avoid burning.
In a large pot, add spices, chicken stock, chicken breast, onion, ginger, sugar and fish sauce. Bring to boil. Reduce heat medium-low and let simmer for 20 minutes. Use tongs to remove the chicken.
Start to boil the noodles. In the meantime use the tongs to hold the chicken breast and cut into thin slices.
Taste the broth, and add more fish sauce or sugar if needed. Once ready, strain the broth and remove all solids.
Prepare your serving bowls and add the drained noodles first, top evenly with the broth, then layer the chicken slices into a neat circle, followed by the Spanish onion rings, then top with coriander. Add a sprinkle of chilli, and a squeeze of lime/lemon and coriander to taste – you can also serve these in a separate side bowl.
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