Chicken pho (phở gà)
65 min · 48 g protein · 455 cals / serving
A clear, fragrant Vietnamese broth, built on charred onion and ginger simmered with warm spices, ladled boiling hot over rice noodles and slices of tender poached chicken. Everyone finishes their own bowl at the table with crunchy bean sprouts, basil, cilantro, lime, chili and a squirt of sriracha. Steaming, aromatic and fresh all at once.
Ingredients
Broth
- 1 large onion, halved, skin on
- a 7 cm (3-inch) piece ginger, halved lengthwise
- 3 whole star anise anise seed
- 1 tsp fennel seed
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon, or 1 small stick
- 3 whole cloves
- 8 cups chicken broth, low-sodium
- 2 cups water
- 1 1/2 lb chicken breast
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
Bowls
- 6 oz (170 g) dried rice noodles, flat rice noodles (bánh phở)
To finish
- 2 cups bean sprouts
- 1 handful fresh basil, Thai basil if you can find it
- 1 handful fresh cilantro
- 3 green onions, thinly sliced
- 1 jalapeño, thinly sliced
- 1 lime, in wedges
- 1 tbsp sriracha hot sauce, to taste (optional)
Steps
- Char the onion halves and ginger, cut sides down, in a dry heavy pot over high heat for 6–8 minutes, until blackened in patches. (Or hold them over a gas flame.) Let cool a minute, then peel off the onion's papery skin.
- Toast the star anise, fennel seed, cinnamon and cloves in the same dry pot for 1 minute, until fragrant.
- Add the broth, water, charred onion and ginger and the chicken breasts. Bring to a simmer, then cover and cook at a bare simmer for 15 minutes, until the chicken reads 165°F. Lift out the chicken and keep simmering the broth uncovered for another 20 minutes.
- Strain the broth through a sieve and return it to the pot. Season with the fish sauce, then more fish sauce or salt to taste: it should taste a little too salty on its own, as the noodles and toppings soften it.
- Soak or boil the noodles according to the packet, drain and divide between four large bowls. Slice the chicken thinly and lay it on top.
- Bring the broth back to a rolling boil and ladle it over the noodles. Serve with the sprouts, herbs, green onion, chili, lime and sriracha for everyone to add at the table.
Good to know
Is it gluten-free and dairy-free?
Yes, as written. Rice noodles and fish sauce are both naturally gluten-free, though a few fish sauces add wheat, so check the label. Leave out hoisin, which usually contains wheat.
Can I make the broth ahead?
Yes, and it improves. Strain and cool it, keep it 4 days in the fridge or 3 months in the freezer, and store the chicken separately. Cook the noodles fresh.
What makes it taste like pho?
The charred onion and ginger and the toasted whole spices, above all the star anise. No star anise? Use 1 tsp more fennel seed: it is softer but still tastes of pho.
Alternative
Per
- Calories
- 51
- Protein
- (44%)
- 5 g
- Fat
- (13%)
- 1 g
- Carbohydrates
- (43%)
- 6 g
- of which sugar
- 1 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 334 mg
More meals
Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. General guidance, not medical advice. Talk to your prescriber. How
As written, 1821 kcal goes into the pot and 4280 g of ingredients comes out as about 3600 g of food: 51 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.