Phở Gà
I finally did it! I made a recipe blog post. Sharing recipes with you has been on my to-do list for the longest time but I just cbf’d. I had an entire plan to create Tumblr just to share recipes for you but then realised I could just do it through here bc let’s face it how many more accounts can I really manage….
There’s something about Phở Gà that touches my heart. I love the iconic beef version but sometimes chicken phở is just so light and refreshing. I firmly believe that chicken soup is very healing. I often get people who come in and ask me why I don’t make Phở Bò and I’m like lol…there’s so many other shops who make yummy beef phở…why do I also have to make it. I just wanna cook my chicken phở haha Many people don’t realise how much work goes into Phở Bò. Do you know how heavy beef bones are??? Everyday, my mum carries 80kg of bones up the stairs just to make beef bone broth. She is always complaining about how her arms and body hurt but she can’t stop because it’s what her customers want to eat. Chicken pho is more gentle on the body - even though my muscles still suffer from carrying that huge pot.
My Phở Gà is always evolving. I don’t have a set recipe because I like to experiment and listen to the ancestral wisdom stored deep in my body. Whenever I cook, I will splash in the fish sauce until my ancestors whisper me ‘stooooop’. I even put fish sauce in my pasta (pls don’t cancel me, sorry Italians). Tbh, I rarely trust myself and the decisions I make but when I am in the kitchen cooking Viet food, I trust myself and my ancestors completely. I have fucked up enough times to learn from my mistakes lol (sounds so cheesy but it's true!) For me, cooking is about learning to trust yourself. I hope to make recipes that are easy enough to follow so that you can also learn to trust yourself <3
At the core of it, Phở needs to have a balance of flavour - herbal (spices), sweet (rock sugar), salty (fish sauce and salt) and umami (chicken and grilled onion). Just keep these things in mind and your broth will thrive! There’s no perfect way to make Phở so it’s okay if you’re not happy with it yet…just keep cooking and trying out different Phở restaurants to see which one you like most. No two recipes will ever be the same. Season to your taste! Some days I prefer a lighter broth, other days I crave a heavier meaty broth.
Anyways, I am rambling now. I get why all the blog posts have soooo much text before you actually get to the recipe now hahah sorryyy.
Thank you for reading and joining me on this journey! If you get a chance to try this recipe, tag us on IG! Let me know what you think! Trust yourself and use the recipe below as a guide to making our Phở Gà.
I believe in you <3
Phở Gà (makes 6-8 serves)
12L water
1- 2 boiling chicken
1 x whole chicken
1 x leek
1 x carrot
1 x daikon
4 x dried shiitake mushrooms (rehydrated)
2 x brown onion
Small- medium knob of ginger
1 x cassia or cinnamon stick
5 x star anise
5 tbs coriander seeds
4 cloves
3 tsp fennel seed
1 x dried mandarin peel (3cm x 3cm)
8cm x 8cm kombu seaweed
10 x makrut lime leaves (5 leaves chiffonade for garnish)
1 x lemongrass
Small piece of rock sugar
Fish sauce
Salt
1tbs Chicken powder
1 bunch spring onion (thinly sliced)
1 bunch coriander (roughly chopped)
Pepper
Fresh or Dry rice noodles
Instructions
Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil.
Wash and roughly cut leek, carrot and daikon.
Clean both chickens by scrubbing salt all over.
Remove the tail, pin feathers and trim excess fat. Rinse with cold water.
Place chickens into boiling water for 5 minutes until scum forms at the surface. Strain and rinse the chicken to remove excess scum.
Place the boiling chicken in a large pot (15L) and fill with cold water until 4/5th full.
Add leek, carrot, rehydrated mushrooms and daikon.
Allow pot to come to a boil and immediately turn heat down. Remove scum from surface regularly to ensure a clear stock.
Add rock sugar, lemongrass and makrut lime leaves. Allow stock to simmer for 6-8 hours. If you lack time, 2-4 hours is also ok - it just won’t have the same depth.
Roast onion and ginger on an open flame until charred. In a pan, toast your spices and kombu. Add to your simmering stock. Removed charred layers of onion and ginger. Smash your ginger with a pestle. Add both to your stock. Allow your stock to continue simmer for another hour. Your house will smell amazing!!
Add your whole chicken and let it poach in simmering broth for approx 1 hour! Once cooked remove, let it cool, shred and leave aside.
In the meantime, cook your noodles. Fresh noodles are amazing but if you can’t access, use dry pho noodles. A trick I learnt when cooking dried noodles is to rehydrate them overnight before cooking them!! They’re so much silkier!
Season your broth with salt, chicken powder and fish sauce until desired flavour.
Blanch or cook noodles and put in bowl. Place shredded chicken on top of noodles, followed by generous serve of spring onion and corriander. Sprinkle with pepper and finally garnish with lime leaves.
Now you’re ready to pour your hot steaming broth over ur bowl of Phở Gà.
I’m so proud of you <3