Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 8 cups chicken broth
- 6 pints cold water
- 2 cubes of pho seasoning packet
- 4 small onions quartered, skin on
- 5 whole garlic cloves
- 1 inch fresh ginger root
- Handful fresh cilantro
- 1/2 lemon w/ rind on
- Chinese spice blend packet - 2 cinnamon sticks, 3 star anise, cloves, peppercorns, fennel seeds)
- 3 skinless/boneless chicken breasts sliced very thinly
- 8 oz. rice noodles
Toppings
- Green onions, chopped
- Torn sweet Thai basil leaves or regular basil leaves
- Mung bean sprouts
- Lime wedges
- 2 jalapeños, thinly sliced
- Chopped peanuts
- Hoisin sauce
- Sriracha hot sauce
Instructions
- In large heavy pot, add chicken broth, water, Pho cubes, onions, garlic cloves, ginger root, and lemon. Bring to a boil and lower to a simmer, partially covered for 2 hours. Meanwhile, put spices in a cheesecloth and tie with string. Add spice packet for the last 20 minutes. Discard spices and strain the broth. Return broth to the pot and keep at a low simmer.
- During last 30 minutes of cooking, soak the rice noodles in water for 20 minutes and strain. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil and add rice noodles. Cook noodles until just done, about 5 minutes (firm but not mushy). Remove soup from stove. Add in sliced chicken just before serving (chicken will cook very quickly in the hot broth).
- To assemble soup: Place some noodles at the bottom of the bowl. Ladle soup over noodles, including sliced chicken. Serve with veggie toppings and sauces.
Notes
- Make the soup broth in advance and either refrigerate it overnight or freeze it. The longer it sits, the more flavors it will develop!
- Make sure to buy super fresh bean sprouts. They go bad very quickly!
- The chicken will cook very quickly by slicing it very thinly. Leaving it in the broth too long will overcook the chicken! I like to drop it in at the very last step.
- You can substitute the chicken for beef using beef broth and skirt steak, or use shrimp instead of meat!
- Prep Time: 5 min
- Cook Time: 2 hours 30 min
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stove top
- Cuisine: Vietnamese
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 583
- Sugar: 4.6 g
- Sodium: 686.3 mg
- Fat: 9.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 64.2 g
- Protein: 60.6 g
- Cholesterol: 148.9 mg
