Chicken Pho

Name: Chicken Pho
Yield: serves 8
Ingredients: 2 yellow onions, about 1 pound total, unpeeled; Chubby 4-inch section fresh ginger, unpeeled; 1 chicken, about 4 pounds, excess fat and tail removed; 3 pounds chicken backs, necks, or other bony chicken parts; 5 quarts water; 1 1/2 tablespoons salt; 3 tablespoons fish sauce; 1-inch chunk yellow rock sugar (about 1 ounce); 2 tablespoons coriander seeds, toasted in a dry skillet for about 1 minute until fragrant; 4 whole cloves; 1 small or 1/2 large bunch cilantro (bound stems about 1 inch in diameter); 1 1/2 to 2 pounds small flat rice noodles, dried or fresh; Cooked chicken from the broth, at room temperature; 1 yellow onion, sliced paper-thin, soaked in cold water to cover for 30 minutes and drained; 3 or 4 scallions, green part only, thinly sliced; 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro, leafy tops only; Black pepper; 3 cups bean sprouts (about 1/2 pound); 10 to 12 sprigs mint; 10 to 12 sprigs Thai basil; 12 to 15 fresh culantro leaves; 2 or 3 Thai or serrano chiles, thinly sliced; 2 or 3 limes, cut into wedges

December 14, 2011

While beef pho may be the version that most people know and like, chicken pho is also excellent. In recent years, there has been a renewed interest in pho gà within the Vietnamese American community, and a handful of restaurants are specializing in the delicate noodle soup. Some of them use free-range gà chay or gà đi bo (literally “jogging chicken” or “walking chicken”), yielding bowls full of meat that has a flavor and texture reminiscent of traditionally raised chickens in Vietnam. If you want to create great chicken pho yourself, take a cue from the pros and start with quality birds. If you have never made pho, this recipe is ideal for learning the basics. It calls for fewer ingredients than other pho recipes, so you can focus on charring the onion and ginger to accentuate their sweetness, making a clear broth, and assembling steamy hot, delicious bowls. While some cooks flavor chicken pho broth with the same spices they use for beef pho, my family prefers using coriander seeds and cilantro to distinguish the two.

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