Quick Chicken Pho
A hot steaming bowl of chicken pho is one of the most delicious and comforting meals to have when its cold outside. This quick version is made with store bought chicken stock which makes it super easy and suitable to make on weekdays.
- Prep time
- 15 min
- Cook time
- 30 min
- Yield
- 4 servings
- Difficulty
- HARD
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 4 chicken thighs fillets or 2 breasts, (cleaned)
- 500 gm dried rice noodles (generous servings) or 1 kg of fresh rice noodles
- 2 L low sodium liquid chicken stock
- 1 cup water
- 1 onion, (cut in half)
- 30 gm ginger, (thinly sliced)
- 2 tsp sugar
- cracked pepper, (to taste)
- 2 tbsp fish sauce (or to taste)
- 1 tsp chicken bouillon powder (or to taste (Optional))
- 3 star anise (whole)
- 1 tbsp coriander seeds
- 2 stalks spring onions, (finely chopped)
- 1/4 red onion, (finely sliced)
- 10 sprigs coriander (roughly chopped (optional))
- 125 gm bean sprouts, (rinsed)
- 1 lemon, (cut into wedges (optional))
- 6 sprigs Thai basil ((optional))
- 2 birds eye chilli or jalapenos (finely chopped (optional))
- Sriracha / chilli sauce ((highly recommended but optional))
- hoisin sauce ((highly recommended but optional))
Instructions
- 1
Prepare all your ingredients.
- 2
Add the chicken stock and 1 cup of water to a stock pot on medium high heat. Allow the pot to come to a boil.
- 3
In a small fry pan on medium heat, add the coriander seeds and whole star anise. Toast the aromatics until fragrant. Wrap them up in a cheesecloth / chux cloth or tea bag.
- 4
In the same fry pan, dry fry the onion halves and sliced ginger until their is a bit of char. Once done, add them to the stock pot.
- 5
When the soup is boiling, add the chicken, sugar, pepper, chicken bouillon powder and toasted aromatics. Give the pot a stir and wait for stock to come back to a boil. Once boiling, turned down the heat to medium low and let the pot simmer partially covered for 10 minutes.
- 6
After 10 minutes, take out a piece of chicken and check if its done. If yes, then take out the rest and let it cool. If not, leave the chicken in the pot until done. Put the lid back on the pot with a small gap for the steam to escape and continue to simmer on low until needed.
- 7
Tear up the chicken into bite sized pieces and leave in a closed container until needed. Prepare all your herbs / veg and the noodles as directed on the packaging.
- 8
When everything is prepped, add the fish sauce to the pot and taste check. Adjust the seasoning according to your taste. (Note 1)
- 9
Turn up the heat to medium high on the stock pot and fish out the star anise and ginger.
- 10
Divide the noodles into the bowls and put the chicken pieces on top. If using fresh noodles, please refer to note 2.
- 11
Ladle over the boiling stock and add all the garnishes on top.
- 12
Serve