I was first introduced to Pho (pronounced Fuh) when we visited Vietnam in 2002. We made the journey to attend my brother-in-law’s wedding (lucky us) where I instantly fell in love with Pho and ate it every chance I got, a.k.a. daily. Pho is basically a rice noodle soup, a street food, a traditional a breakfast food, and how you start the day.  But, nowadays you can get it any time of day and almost anywhere. In Vietnam, it is eaten like we would eat cereal or eggs in the States. Pho Bo made with beef tends to be most popular but I prefer  Pho Ga made with chicken. On the way home from Vietnam, Mike bought a cookbook at the airport, so he could make delicious Pho Ga anytime – lucky me.

Mathew and his cousins

Last week my brother-in-law and his family came to visit us. We had a great time catching up. Mathew loved playing with his two cousins who are around his age. Whenever we visit with Eric’s family, we always eat very well and this time was no exception.  Lien, Eric’s wife really enjoys cooking and is a wonderful cook. While visiting, Lien made us some delicious dishes and Pho Ga was one of them. I asked Lien to write up her recipe and here it is.

Lien preparing the chicken for the Pho Ga

Pho Ga (chicken pho) recipe:

Whole chicken

Dried rice noodle (banh pho noodle)

Fish Sauce

Shallots 4-5

Ginger 2 inches

Cilantro

Green onion

Salt

Pickled garlic (side dish):

Garlic

Red hot chili peppers

Rice Vinegar

How to do:

Put the chicken in a big pot with water covering up to one inch above the whole chicken. Roast ginger and shallots until brown outside. Peel the shallot and put ginger and shallots in with the chicken. Boil up, season soup with fish sauce, and salt to taste. Let the chicken boil in the soup for about 15 minutes, and then turn it to low and let it simmer for about 20 minutes. Test by poking into the thick part of the chicken like the thigh, if no red juice comes out, it’s ready to be taken out. After the chicken is taken out, let it rest until the whole chicken is cooled, so the meat won’t be falling apart into small bits when being cut. When completely cooled, cut meat across the grains into small pieces.

Boil the dry rice noodle. Let the water boil up and then turn down to low, simmering until the noodle tested soft. Drain the water and run the noodle under cold water until cool if it’s not used right away. If the noodle is going to be served right away, put it into bowls. If used later, the noodle needs to be warmed up again by pouring hot water or hot soup over it before pouring the serving soup in.

Chop green onion and cilantro very small. Prepare the garlic vinegar by slicing the garlic and chili peppers and pour rice vinegar covering the pieces.

Arrange chicken pieces on top of the warm noodle in each bowl. Sprinkle green onion and cilantro on top. Pour hot boiling chicken broth in. Serve with a piece of lime or the pickled garlic peppers and chili sauce.

ENJOY!

Pho Ga -YUM!