Pho Recipe

Diane and Quyen Nguyen

Pho is pronounced ‘fu’, as in fun. My dear friend Quyen Nguyen had a great deal of fun at my expense until I learned how to pronounce it correctly.  Quyen introduced me to Pho and I’ve developed an alarming fondness for it. I’ve been known to have it for lunch and dinner, and nobody should eat that many rice noodles. 

Pho is Vietnamese street food. In its traditional state it consists of a clear beef broth, rice vermicelli, and the meat is usually tendon, tripe or meatballs. One of my favorite features of this dish is the addition of fresh vegetables. Your Pho house will give you a dish with lime, Thai basil, bean sprouts, sliced chili peppers and onions. These fresh vegetables are added at the table to the hot soup. The result is a slightly cooked vegetable.

My favorite Pho place in Seattle is the Than Brothers. When you go in to a Pho restaurant, try and get a look in the kitchen. The place that makes their own broth will probably have pans about three feet tall bubbling in the back. Look for the big pans, as it means they probably make their own broth, and the broth is the key.  I encourage you to make broth from bones, but for the purposes of this recipe we will be using organic store bought broth.

This recipe is adapted for the busy home cook and is a chicken base. I’ve attempted to get the flavors and cut the time. Good luck and enjoy.

Pho Recipe

Serves four to six people.

There are basically three components to this recipe, and they are the noodles, the broth and the fresh vegetables.

The Noodles (Rice Vermicelli)

These can be found in any Asian market and there are a number of varieties. Cook the noodles according to the directions on the package. I boil them until they’re just done. They can be a little on the andante side, which is a bit firm to the bite.

When you drain the noodles, rinse them with cold water until the water runs clear. This is very important. I tend to cook a bunch of rice vermicelli if I’m going to have Pho over several days. I put it in a zip lock bag and add a little sesame oil to it to keep it from sticking together and keep it in the refrigerator.

Rice vermicelli can be purchased in any Asian food store. Try a few different kinds to find the one you like. 

The Broth

Ingrediants:

1 Large Onion (Sliced)

1 Serrano Chili (finely chopped)

6 Cloves of garlic (finely chopped)

1 inch of ginger (finely chopped)

The juice from 2 limes

4 Lime Kiffir Leaves (if you don’t have these add a little more lime juice)

4 cups of mushrooms (rough chopped) I’ve used oyster mushrooms and bunashimeji or beech mushrooms. Use what’s available to you.

About 1.5 pounds of light or dark chicken meat with no bones (cut into 1 inch cubes)

3 Tablespoons of chili and garlic paste

2 Tablespoons of Ghee (or cooking oil)

9 cups of organic chicken broth

Old Man Que Huong Pho Spices

Pho spices in cloth bag or tea ball:

If you don't have a spice bag. you can use a tea ball. The point is to remove the spices before serving. You can also purchase a Pho spice package. It has a cloth bag inside it and it will make several batches of this recipe. Use only about one third of the spice package. This can be found on line.

            1 Star anise

            4 Whole cloves

            1 Black cardamom pod (green or white will work)

            ½ cinnamon stick

            1 Teaspoon of fennel seeds

To Cook:

Sauté garlic, chili and ginger for about a minute.

Add sliced onion and sauté until onion is a little translucent (a little over a minute).

Add chicken sauté for a few minutes.

Add chili and garlic paste and mix all ingredients well. Stir as needed until chicken is about done (about 5 or 6 minutes).

Add rough chopped mushrooms and sauté for about 4 more minutes.

Add 9 cups of chicken broth, Lime Kiffir leaves, the juice from 2 limes and the pho spice bag/tea ball.

Cook for about 20 minutes and remove the spice bag.

 The Fresh Vegetables

Use what you like for this part. You are trying to achieve a slightly cooked texture after you put the vegetables in the soup. Slice the vegetables thin.

Thin sliced Savoy Cabbage (I like this variety for its texture in the soup)

Chopped green onions (scallions)

Zucchini (thin Sliced)

Cucumber (thin sliced)

Snap peas or pea pods (cut in I inch pieces)

Carrots (peeled off of the carrot in thin slices)

Thai Basil (whole leaf)

Bean Sprouts

Serrano Chili (thin sliced)

Building the Bowl

This is a very personal part of the process. There will be some vegetables you will want to add more of, and there may be some you want to substitute or leave out. The noodles are a high calorie component with about 192 calories in 1 cup of noodles. I use about 1.5 cups of noodles.

I put the broth in the bowl first. Then add the noodles and the fresh vegetables, but it's up to you and you may want to pour the hot broth over the fresh vegetables.