Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup – Phở Gà

Place chicken in a large soup pot and add enough water to cover chicken. Add cinnamon stick, anise, clove, and ginger. Bring it to a boil, and then reduce heat and simmer for at least 45 minutes or longer. If using a whole chicken, remove chicken, cool, debone, and add meat back to broth. Using a whole chicken will certainly add much flavor to the soup, but cut pieces and/or boneless pieces save time and are still delicious. If using chicken pieces, remove any bones, skin, etc. and slightly shred chicken meat with a fork. Add meat back to the broth and then add fish sauce, sugar and salt.

While broth continues to simmer, clean and prepare garnishes (see list of options below) preparing scallions, slicing lime wedges, and cleaning fresh mint, cilantro, and Thai basil sprigs.

Just before serving, prepare rice noodles according to directions on package. Usually rinse noodles in cool water than soak in very hot water for a few minutes till tender. Rice noodles cook more quickly than wheat noodles. Beware of over cooking.

In individual soup bowls, put a serving of rice noodles and some thinly sliced onions in the individual bowls. Ladle broth and chicken into bowl, removing cinnamon, anise, clove and ginger. (Similar to bay leaves, these are not to eat.) Top with a sprinkling of scallions.

A large plate of garnishes is prepared and placed on the serving table for all to share. Each person will individually garnish with his choice of bean sprouts, fresh Thai basil leaves, fresh mint leaves, jalapeños slices, garlic chili sauce, Hoisin sauce, lime wedges, and/or fresh cilantro.

Enjoy!