Few weeks back, we had the worst chicken pho in our life in a chain restaurant. The key of a pho, the soup, was bland. The server apologised: ‘Not enough time to cook.’ (I wish you’d have told me before).
I was not satisfied, and I wanted soup.
So, when you try to recreate a perfect pho soup at home, make from scratch or use store bought-soup?
Of course store bought! Who has time and effort to cook soup for a few hours, just for a bowl of pho? Also, the store-bought quality is quite good nowadays, with no MSG version available. They are a real helper in the kitchen.
Find your Perfect (store-bought) Chicken Broth
Recently I’m using this one, Knorr chicken stock pot. According to its instructions, dissolve 1 pot in 500ml water, but I found it too salty. Since fish sauce will be added to the sou, I ended up using 1 chicken pot with 1.1L water. The chicken flavour was nice.
Use any Meat/Veg, but DON’T Skip the Herbs
Chicken: I used the leftover from a store bought whole roasted chicken. Stir fry it with the vegetables of your choice, season with a little soy sauce, place them with mixed herbs in the bowl, then your pho toppings are done!
Fresh herb: A must in pho. I used mint, basil and coriander in this recipe. Some recipes suggest using Thai basil instead of Italian basil, however, the latter is much easier to get in supermarket, so I just used it. Remember, great is the enemy of good. And if you can only buy one type of herbs, go for coriander! It’s always a good friend with fish sauce, a key flavour in a Vietnamese dish.
Chilli is Optional, but Highly Recommend!
Although I can’t take too much chilli, I find the fresh chilli in a pho soup make me want to drink more soup! This kind of spiciness will not make your lip or mouth numb, but mild and tempting, it’s addictive!
Here’s how I cooked it.
Ingredients
Serves: 2
- 1.1 L chicken broth
- few slices ginger
- 1 fresh red chilli (sliced)
- 1 ½ tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 130 g Pho noodles
- Toppings
- cooked chicken
- 1 carrot (batons)
- 1 handful frozen beans
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- mixed herbs
- fresh mint
- fresh coriander
- fresh basil
- ½ lime
How to Make Easy Chicken Pho in 20 Mins
- Chicken broth: Boil 1.1L water, dissolve a chicken stock pot, add ginger, chilli, fish sauce and sugar, simmer for 15 mins.
- Meat and Veg: Heat little oil in a pan, fry garlic until fragrant, stir fry chicken and vegetables until cooked, season with soy sauce.
- Pho: Cook pho noodles according to the instructions, drain well and set in a bowl.
- Assemble: Pour chicken broth in the bowl, toppings with chicken and vegetables, then garnish with mixed herbs, squeeze in some fresh lime juice. Add more fish sauce if desired, enjoy!
More Easy Soup Noodles Recipes
- The Easiest Chinese Soup Noodles
- Bottoms Up Tom Kha Goong
- One Pot Kimchi Tomato Soup Noodles
- Homemade Style Nagasaki Champon Noodle
By the way, are you interested in which chain pho restaurant was it? 😛
