Chicken Pho

So I made the chicken pho again and feel comfortable sharing the recipe. I made the dish for an 8 person dinner party and it was a success. You can customize the spice and the fixins and it is somewhat interactive and kind of fun. A word of warning, this is a labor intensive dish because of all the add ons. It can also turn into a grazing salad bar if you put out all the add ons before you serve the meal. I paired this with a viogner but it goes nicely with any crisp, citrusy white.

I highly adapted the recipe from a blog called Steamy Kitchen- www.steamykitchen.com and added a lot of the ingredients that I like to it. On my first attempt, I used regular canned broth and got pretty good results simmering it with the spices so that's a nice short cut. I also ate the chicken that I used to make the broth and supplemented it with roasted chickens I picked up at the market.

Chicken Pho
Serves 10-12
Adapted from Steamy Kitchen

Prep Time:1 hour
Cook Time:3 hours

Broth
2 whole organic chickens, giblets removed, taken apart
8 whole cloves
3 cinnamon sticks
2 T star anise
2 T corriander seeds
1 handful of cilantro stems
1 red onion, quartered and roasted
1 " section of ginger, roasted
2 T sugar
1/2 cup fish sauce
4 small bok choy, rinsed and quartered
2 cans straw mushrooms, drained, rinsed
2 packages rice noodles, I like the glass noodles
salt and pepper to taste

Fixins
You'll need a lot of small bowls and plates

1 bunch of water cress, cleaned and trimmed
1 bunch cilantro, cleaned
1/4 cup srirachi
3' ginger, peeled and grated
2 cups bean sprouts, washed
1 whole roasted chicken, meat taken off and shredded
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
8 scallions, diced
1 jalapeno, 1/4" slices
4 limes, quartered

Fill a large stock pot (I used my lobster pot) with water and set over a high heat.

Slice the broth onion and set the onion and ginger under a medium broiler for 5-10 minutes. After they have cooled remove the charred skin.

I did this over two days but there is no reason why you couldn't do it in one day. Breakdown both chickens and try to remove as much fat as possible. I started by using a pair of kitchen sheers to cut out the backbone. I then took off the thighs and legs, separating them at the joints with my knife. I tried to cut off as much fat and meat as I went. Then you can slice off the breasts. You want to try and take as much meat off as possible.

Add the chicken to the pot and let boil for 5 minutes. There will be a nice scum on the top of the water. Once that has developed. Take all the chicken out of the pot, drain and clean the pot, and refill with clean water. Rinse any of the scum off the chicken parts.




Add all the broth ingredients except the bok choy and noodles and simmer for 1-2 hours. Add the bok choy and noodles 10 minutes before serving.



Prepare all the fixins ingredients. Carve and shred the roast chicken. Clean and prep the veggies. I luckily had the help of a very skilled friend who used to work as a veggie prepper at a vegetarian restaurant. Once everything is prepped, lay out the fixins so that people can pick and choose what they want. I found it easier to have people put all their ingredients in a bowl and then pour the broth over that.

This is easiest eaten with chop sticks and a spoon.