Pho Ga

Don’t be a pho-king idiot, pho is the best. Okay that’s all the pho based puns I will use for this post. Pho real. Okay that’s the last one.

So first things first, let’s start with the pronunciation of pho. Think of your favorite four letter word (starts with a F and ends with a K). The sound that the Fu makes in that word, is how you pronounce pho. So do not pronounce pho like it’s your “foe”.

Next, let’s discuss where pho originates from. It’s most definitely a Vietnamese dish, and from there things get a little fuzzy. Most historical documents point to pho getting its start in the early 20th century. The folks over at Serious Eats Food Lab say that pho is a result of the French occupation in Vietnam (formerly Indochina) pointing to pho’s similarity to the French dish pot-au-feu, while others say that it’s a result of the dish becoming popular in the countryside and making it’s way to the cities. Experts all say that pho is delicious. So that’s all that matters to me.

Pho became popular in the United States of America/North America following the Vietnam War. Why? Because if my blog has taught you ANYTHING, it’s that people leave war torn countries and take their foods/culture with them. As a result of that, you have the spread of those foods to other parts of the world, because said people who left said war torn country still need to eat! So after the Vietnam War, there was an influx of Vietnamese immigrants who made their way to the United States. The cheap down home goodness of pho slowly drew people in and by the late 90’s early 2000’s pho joints began popping up everywhere.

That’s where my story comes in. I too was one of those people who called it “Foe” instead of “Fa” before I knew what pho was. My first pho experience was with a Korean friend of mine who showed me the light of this magical soup. 19 year old Unmanly Chef couldn’t believe what his mouth was tasting when the delicious salty goodness of pho hit my lips back in 2006. My friend showed me the ropes of how to properly eat pho and after that it was game over. Ever since then I’ve sought out pho whenever I need a pick me up or if I feel a cold coming. There is nothing better than slurping a gigantic bowl of pho down when you have a head cold. By the end of the bowl, you will have full on sweats and your throat will be feeling nice and warm.

So what’s pho anways? If you couldn’t figure it out by the picture, pho is a noodle soup. Typically it’s served with a lean cut of beef like flank steak, the cut of beef is usually thrown into the broth raw and it’s allowed to cook in the boiling hot pho that’s been served to you. If you’ve never had pho before, I recommend you trying this for your first time.  But in this case I’ve made it with chicken (hence the ga after the pho) because I actually prefer the light flavor of the chicken over the rich gelatinous beef soup.  Anyways, in this delicious bowl of soup you have a simple combination of spices and aromatics that delivers a wonderful experience to your taste buds. The spices are simple: cinnamon, ginger, star anise, coriander, and black peppercorns. You add these simple spices near the half way point of the cooking process, let it cook for a hour more and voila your broth is done! After that you prepare a simple array of rice noodles and you pour the broth over it. That’s it.

Pho seems way more complicated than it actually is. Once you’ve made this at home, you’ll be hitting yourself for not making this sooner.

Recipe – Pho Ga

Ingredients

2 Split Chicken Breasts (Bones are a must)

2 whole pieces of dry Star Anise

2 inch piece of fresh ginger

1 Tsp. Black Pepper

1 Tsp. Cinnamon or 1 Cinnamon Stick

1 Tsp. Coriander

1 cup of diced white onions

2 Tbsp. Crushed Garlic.

14 oz. banh pho (small flat rice noodles) Rice Stick Noodle – 14 Oz. (Pack of 3 Bags) (Medium)

3 Tablespoons of Fish Sauce

Tbsp. Peanut Oil

1 Tsp. Salt

10 Cups of Water

2 Cloves

Toppings:

Bean Sprouts

Thin Lime Wedges

Fresh Thai Basil Leaves

Sriacha Sauce

Hoisin Sauce

Method

Step 1: saute the onions, garlic, in the peanut oil in a large stock pot. Then lay your chicken breast skin side down and allow the skin to brown. Then add your ginger and salt to the pot. Stir for 5 minutes(ish).

Step 2: Now add all of your water. Let this simmer on a low gentle boil for a good hour at least.

Step 3: Now add all of the rest of your spices (you can add the whole spices with a cheese cloth, other wise you’re going to want to fish these out before serving).  Cook the soup for another 45 minutes.

Step 4: Remove the chicken from the broth and remove all the bones/skin from the soup. Return the chicken meat to the soup.

Step 5: Prepare the rice noodles per the directions on the bag separately. (Typically you soak them in hot water for 3 to 4 minutes until they are just past al-dente. ) Once the noodles are ready, you portion them out into bowls and serve the steaming hot soup over it (where the noodles will cook a tad longer).

Step 6: Garnish with any of your favorite toppings and chow down. It’s customary to pour sriacha and hoisin sauce prior to consumption but some frown on this. Do whatever you want, you only live pho-king once.

Sorry.