Chicken Pho

I was losing inspiration and creativity, I felt that every night each dinner i cooked was almost the same as the last.  So I decided to look through some of my cookbooks for new and/or different recipes.  I found a book that was gifted to me, The Anti-Inflammation Cookbook by Amanda Haas.  i had not really looked through it yet but I was curious to see what kind of food and dishes could or would reduce inflammation.  it seems more and more people these days are having allergies or digestive issues.  So here goes my first recipe.

---

Chicken Pho

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Serving: 6

Ingredients:

• 1 4-5 lb (1.8-2.3 kg) chicken, quartered, backbone reserved 

• 2 yellow onions, peeled and halved

• One 2-in (5 cm) piece fresh ginger, peeled and smashed

• 2 tsp light brown sugar

• 5 quart (4.7L) water

• 1/4 cup (60ml) fish sauce, plus more for serving

• 1 lb (455g) dried brown rice noodles

• 1 bunch green onions, green parts only, thinly sliced

• 2 cups (120g) mung bean sprouts

• 2 jalapenos, thinly sliced

• Torn basil, cilantro, and mint leaves for serving

• lime wedges for serving 

• sriracha sauce for serving

Method:

1. Place the chicken pieces and backbone, onions, ginger, 1 tsp salt, brown sugar, and water in a stockpot with at least an 8 qt (7.5 L) capacity.  Slowly bring to a boil over medium hight heat.  Turn the heat to medium low and simmer gently, uncovered, for 1 hour, skimming off any impurities that come to the surface.  (Add water as necessary to keep the chicken covered)

2. Using tongs, remove the chicken pieces from the pot and transfer to a cutting board.  When the chicken is cool to the touch, remove all the meat from the skin and bones and transfer to a medium bowl.  Return the skin and bones to the stockpot.  Shred the meat, then cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

3. return the stock to a simmer and continue to cook for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.  Using a fine-mesh sieve, strain the stock into another stockpot and cook over high heat until reduced to 12 cups (3L) about 20 minutes.  Stir in the fish sauce. (At this point, you can cool the stock to room temp, cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days.)

4. prepare rice noodles according to the package instructions.

5. while the noodles cook, add half of the shredded chicken to the stock and simmer until the chicken is warmed through.  (Reserve remaining shredded chicken for another us). Divide the cooked rice noodles among six large soup bowls and sprinkle evenly with green onions, bean sprouts, and jalapenos.  Lade the stock and chicken over the noodles and finish with the torn herbs  Serve with lime wedges, additional fish sauce, and Sriracha sauce, if desired.

---

I had bought a whole chicken, so half the chicken was used for this recipe and the other half for another recipe.  As i was only using half the chicken (the backbone, wings, and breasts) i halved the whole recipe.  i actually hadn't checked to see if could find brown rice noodles here in germany but i already had some regular rice noodles in the pantry, so i just used them.  i also didn't have any basil or mint, so it did lack the taste from those herbs but some people actually prefer their pho without these.  i wanted to incorporate some green vegetables to the dish so i added some spinach to the bowl before adding the hot broth on top, to slowly cook the spinach and allow them to wilt a bit.  the broth could have been a bit tastier, maybe the next time i will simmer the bones a bit longer or find a better quality chicken.  i also forgot to add a bit of hoisin sauce to the dish as a condiment which can help add some more taste to the broth. in all a relatively easy, healthy, and filling dish to make.   maybe next time i will try to make a pork or beef pho.