Chicken Pho
Charles Phan and his children adore this soup, called pho, which has an intense chicken flavor accented by aromatic roasted onion and ginger — they eat it for breakfast or lunch at least four times a week. Like his mom, Phan adds a large pinch of sugar to the broth to balance the pungent fish sauce.
Ingreadients :
- 2 unpeeled yellow onions, quartered
- 3 (1/2-inch-thick) slices of fresh ginger, smashed
- 4 quarts cold water
- 3 pounds chicken bones or chicken wings
- One 3 1/2-pound chicken, quartered
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1/4 cup fish sauce
- 1 pound dried rice noodles
- 1 scallion, thinly sliced
- 1 pound mung bean sprouts
- 1/2 cup torn basil leaves
- 2 limes, cut into wedges
- 2 jalapeños, thinly sliced
- Chile-garlic sauce and hoisin sauce, for serving
Step by Step :
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Put the onions and ginger on a baking sheet and roast for 30 minutes, or until softened and lightly browned.
- Fill a large stockpot with the water and bring to a boil. Add the roasted vegetables and the chicken bones, quartered chicken, salt, and sugar and bring to a boil.
- Lower the heat to moderate and simmer until the chicken is cooked, about 30 minutes.
- Using tongs, transfer the quartered chicken to a plate and let cool slightly. Remove the meat from the bones and refrigerate.
- Return the skin and bones to the stockpot and simmer for 2 hours longer.
- Strain the chicken broth into a large soup pot and cook over high heat until reduced to 12 cups, about 15 minutes.
- Stir in the fish sauce.
- In a large bowl of warm water, soak the noodles until pliable, about 20 minutes.
- Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil. Drain the noodles, then add them to the saucepan and boil over high heat until tender, about 3 minutes. Drain well. Transfer the noodles to 6 large bowls and sprinkle with the scallion.
- Add the reserved chicken to the broth and simmer until heated through. Ladle the broth and chicken over the noodles.
- Serve with the bean sprouts, basil, lime wedges, jalapeños, chile-garlic sauce, and hoisin sauce.
