Name: Phở Gà
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 1 h 30 min
Total time: 1 h 50 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Ingredients: 1 whole chicken, about 1.6 kg; 3 litres cold water; 2 onions, halved and left unpeeled; 10 cm ginger, halved lengthways; 4 star anise; 1 cinnamon stick; 4 cloves; 1 tbsp coriander seeds; 2 tbsp fish sauce; 1 tbsp caster sugar; 2 tsp fine sea salt; 400 g flat rice noodles; 4 spring onions, finely sliced; 1 bunch coriander; 1 bunch Thai basil; 200 g beansprouts; 2 limes, in wedges; 2 red chillies, sliced

Phở Gà

Chicken pho: a clear broth of charred ginger and onion with poached chicken and flat rice noodles. Lighter than the beef, and quicker.

1 hr 50 min total Serves 4 servings Medium

Char the ginger and onion black in patches directly over a flame before they go into the pot. It is not decoration: the burnt sugars give the broth its particular smoky sweetness, and pho made with raw aromatics tastes thin and vegetal in a way people notice without being able to name. Blanch the chicken first and throw that water away — it is where the scum comes from.

The Method for Phở Gà

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Cover the chicken with water in a large pan, bring to the boil, boil 3 minutes, then drain and rinse the bird and the pan.
Char the onion and ginger halves directly over a gas flame or under a hot grill for 6 minutes, until blackened in patches.
Toast the star anise, cinnamon, cloves and coriander seeds in a dry pan for 90 seconds.
Return the chicken to the clean pan with the 3 litres of cold water, the charred aromatics and the toasted spices.
Bring to a bare simmer and cook 45 minutes, skimming twice. Do not let it boil.
Lift the chicken out, cool it enough to handle, and shred the meat. Return the carcass to the pot.
Simmer the broth a further 30 minutes, then strain through a fine sieve.
Season with the fish sauce, sugar and salt.
Soak or boil the noodles as the packet directs and divide between bowls with the shredded chicken.
Ladle the hot broth over and serve with the herbs, beansprouts, lime and chilli on the side.

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Tips That Matter

Blanch and discard the first water — it takes the scum with it.
Char the aromatics black in patches.
A bare simmer keeps it clear.

Swaps and Variations

Out of spring onions? A small regular onion, finely sliced, or a few chives stirred in at the end both cover the job.
Dried chilli flakes can stand in for the red chillies. Heat varies a great deal between chillies and between jars, so start with a small pinch and add more to taste.
Lemon is the everyday swap for limes in this kind of dish — the acidity plays the same role even though the flavour is not identical.

Serve It With

Hoisin and sriracha, on the side · Fried dough sticks · Iced jasmine tea

Storage

The broth keeps 4 days refrigerated and freezes 3 months. Assemble bowls to order.

The Numbers per Serving

No nutrition figures are given for this recipe: they cannot be worked out reliably from its ingredient list (some ingredient lines cannot be read). Why some recipes have none.

Dairy-Free