Chicken And Vegetable Pho

 

Phở is a Vietnamese noodle soup that usually served with flat long rice noodles, fresh herbs and thin slices of meat(beef or chicken) cook quickly in hot broth. In Vietnam most of their dishes are typically served with lots of greens, herbs, vegetables, and various other accompaniments such as dipping sauces, hot and spicy pastes and a squeeze of lime or lemon juice to enhance the taste.

Last week while watching the Junior Master Chef series, I was attracted to one of their quick and easy demo dish is is "Chicken and Vegetable Pho". So without hesitate I search through my pantry for some necessary ingredients to try out this dish.

For my version, I omitted the Bay Leaf, Thyme and Parsley from the original recipe for the soup broth as I do not have those available in my pantry. But in a while it also make the soup for oriental flavour without those herbs.

Recipe adapted from Australia Master Chef website, HERE.
Ingredients for Quick Chicken Stock: (serves 4)
2 Chicken Breast plus 4 Chicken Wings
2.5 Liters Water
1 Small Brown Onion, cut into half
2 Stalk Celery, cut into 1" chunks
1 Medium Carrot, cut into thick slices
2 Cloves Garlic
1 Teaspoon Black Peppercorns, lightly pound

Method:-

1. Trim and blanched the chicken in boiling water, rinse and set aside.

2. For the chicken stock, place all ingredients in a large stock pot, bring to boil.

3. Reduce heat and simmer for about 45 minutes, skim the fat from the top as required.

4. Strain stock through a fine sieve and set aside.

Ingredients For Broth Infusion:

1.8 Litres Chicken Stock
1 Cinnamon Quill
2 Star Anise
4cm Ginger, halved
1 Big Red Chili, sliced
3 Pieces Coriander Root, light pound

Seasoning:
2 - 3 Tablespoons of Fish Sauce
3 Tablespoons Light Soya Sauce
Juice of half a Lime, about 1 tablespoon

Method:-

1. Place all the Broth Infusion ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to boil.

2. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for 10 minutes.

3. Season to taste with fish sauce, light soya sauce and lime juice.

Ingredients For Pho Vegetables: (serves 4)
4 Serving of Fresh Thin Rice Noodles, about 400g
1 Medium Carrot, julienned
1 Packet of Enoki Mushrooms
100g Bean Sprouts, blanched in hot water
4 Fresh Shitake Mushrooms, thinly sliced
Some Spring Onion, thinly sliced
1 Cup of shredded Chicken Meat, optional 

Garnish:
Some Vietnamese Mint and Coriander
1 Big Red Chili, thinly sliced
1/2 Lime, cut into quarter

Tips:-

~ I used the chicken breast meat from the soup stock, shred it and serve together with the noodles.

Method:-

1. To serve, layer pho ingredients into separate serving bowls starting with noodles, carrot and etc from the sequence above.

2. Gently divide the broth infusion into serving bowls top with garnish, lime juice and serve immediately.

Although my version might not be the authentic Vietnamese Pho but we definitely love it's fragrant clear soup base which is loaded without lot of fresh vegetables and herbs. Overall the soup tasty and refreshing with hint of cinnamon fragrant and a bit of spicy and sourish taste from the chili and lime juice.