Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup (Pho Ga)

Vietnamese chicken or beef noodle soup (Pho ga or bo) is the signature soup of Vietnam, and it is sold throughout the country. Since 1975, after the Vietnam war ended, the Vietnamese boat people fled their country with this simple recipe and turned it into a millions dollar business abroad called Pho. Each cook has his/her own secret to make pho perfect and takes a vow to keep the recipe a well hidden family secret generation after generation. After enjoying a bowl of Pho in each restaurant, one can realize a slight difference in the broth and wonder what is the difference in each bowl. However, still no one knows because it is a multimillion dollar business, which helped the Vietnamese boat people to survive and later became successful in foreign countries, and as a result the secret has stayed hidden. Some other Asian countries, such as Laos, Thailand, and China, claim that Pho is its cuisine, but Pho Vietnam has earned its name because of its distinctive way of flavoring the broth. The well-known chain of Pho restaurants among Westerners is Pho Hoa, because Hoa Pho is less traditional and more in line with the Westerner's taste. The difficult-to-please Vietnamese people will agree with the assertion that Pho Hoa is not a real bowl of Pho because the flavor of the soup has a too light, less fatty broth. The Pho Hoa restaurant soup suits the demands of healthy eating in America. Living in America for more than 20 years, I agree with Pho Hoa for making Pho healthier using meats instead of beef bones when making broth. The two main components to make a good Pho are the broth and the spicy bag – cinnamon stick, star anise, fennel seeds, clove, and coriander seeds. Other types of vegetables, such as ginger, shallot, and yellow onions are used to flavor the broth, as well. Adding the spicy bag into the broth and removing it in a timely manner is very important, as well, because it gives the broth just the right amount of flavor but not cloud the broth. Without beef bones, the broth will not have a lot of fat, which is what the Vietnamese people believe beef Pho should contain. I always prefer chicken pho because making it is easier and much healthier. The free-range chicken is preferred for Pho Ga, but if it is not available, regular chicken is fine. The chicken Pho recipe here is very easy to prepare at home so Pho can be made regularly to entertain guests without a sweat.
Ingredients:
12 cups homemade chicken broth (posted on April, 17, 2012)
2 chicken breasts
1 tsp salt
3 tbs fish sauce
One bunch of green onions, white part only
Vegetables:
2 oz fresh ginger, about 3 inch
4 shallots
1 large yellow onion
Spicy bag (use cheesecloth):
1 Saigon cinnamon stick, about 4 inches
4 cloves
4 star anise
2 tsp coriander seeds
1/4 tsp fennel seeds
Serving:
2 oz fresh rice noodles, each (banh pho tuoi)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 cup chopped green onions
Beans sprouts, basil (que), mints (hung), culantro (ngo gai)
Lime wedges, jalapeno, sliced
Hoisin sauce, hot chili sauce (tuong an Pho)
Vinegar, white or red onions (optional)

Directions:
In a baking pan, place ginger, shallots and yellow onions and broil in the oven until blackened. Remove, peel off the charred skin from all of them. Wrap them in cheesecloth for easy removal after cooking.
In a nonstick pan, dry-roast the spicy bag ingredients until fragrant (about 2 to 3 min.). Wrap this spicy bag in the cheesecloth as well (investing in a large tea bag maker will do the trick).
Bring the chicken stock to a boil. Add both the spicy bag and charred vegetable bag into the boiling stock. Turn the heat down to simmer. Add the white part of the green onions into the broth and continue to flavor the broth for 45 minutes. Remove the spicy bag, the vegetable bag, and white parts of green onions. Discard these solids. Season the broth with salt and fish sauce. While the broth is simmering, prepare the chicken breasts by bringing 4 cups of water to boil. Add the meets. Return to boil for 15 minutes, skimming off the foam or scum several times. Cover and turn the heat off . Let the chicken breasts continue to cook in the hot water undisturbed.
Slice the white onions to paper thin and place in a bowl. Before serving, add 3 tbs vinegar on top of the onions if intending to serve as side dish.
Remove chicken breasts and slice into bite-size pieces (about 3 or 4 inches long and 1/4 inch thick)
About 15 minutes before serving, bring 3 quarts of water to boil and add rice noodles for a few seconds and then quickly drain out in colander.

To assemble and serve the chicken Pho.

Distribute the cooked noodles among the bowls (one bowl for each guest). Then top the noodles with chicken breast and a few slices of white onions. Sprinkle with cilantro and green onions. Immediately pour the hot broth to cover the ingredients in each bowl. Serve on the side a plate with bean sprouts with all the herbs, lemon wedges, and hoisin-chili sauce.