The recent reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.

No, I haven't been subsisting on canned soup and frozen waffles for the last six months...believe it or not, I HAVE cooked stuff. I've even been taking photos to document various dishes, in all of their steaming glory. I've just been a little preoccupied with trying to apply to graduate school. But I digress.

I thought I'd take a few minutes this evening to share a simple and delicious dish with you. Macy introduced this meal to me about three years ago. One day, while we were exploring Boston, she took me to one of her favorite restaurants, a Vietnamese spot called "Pho Pasteur." One of their signature dishes is a simple soup, called Pho Ga.

Pho Ga is basically Vietnam's take on chicken noodle soup, and let me tell you...it is DELICIOUS. Like its American counterpart, it is a basic comfort food that is both warm and nourishing. However, unlike most American soups, it represents a mixture of savory, slowly simmered flavors with a big splash of fresh herbs and raw vegetables. The result is a meal that incorporates a great variety of textures, flavors, and aromas - nothing like the homogeneous culinary experience of the Campbell's Soup variety.

If you search for Pho recipes online, you'll find that everyone prepares their dishes a little differently. Pho Pasteur uses cilantro and chopped scallion to garnish their pho, whereas my preferred recipe incorporates red onion instead of scallions. It really doesn't matter. Use what tastes good to you. Here's the recipe I followed, courtesy of Jaden Hair of steamykitchen.com.

The Main Ingredients
1 whole organic chicken (4-5lbs)
1 whole onion, unpeeled and cut in half
3-inch chunk of ginger, unpeeled
Large pack of rice noodles (16 oz), dry.

Seasoning for the Broth
2 tbl whole coriander seeds
4 whole cloves (not critical, in my opinion)
2 whole star anise (not critical either)
2 tbl sugar (or rock sugar)
2 tbl fish sauce
small bunch of cilantro stems only, tied in bunch with twine
I also added 4 whole garlic cloves, just because I like garlic.
Also, don't forget salt and pepper. She doesn't mention this.

Garnish
2 cups bean sprouts, washed & tails pinched off
cilantro tops – leaves and tender stems
1/2 cup shaved red onions
1/2 lime, cut into 4 wedges

What you do


I feel lazy tonight, so I'm just going to paste the text directly from Jaden. Here's a link to her site.

Place ginger and onion on a small baking sheet. The top of the onion should be about 4″ from the oven’s heating element. Set to broil on high for 15 minutes. Turn the onion and ginger occasionally, to get an even char. The skin should get dark and the onion/ginger should get soft. After cooling, rub to get the charred skin off the onion and use a butter knife to scrape the skin off the ginger. Slice ginger into thick slices.

In a large stockpot, fill with water and boil. With a sharp cleaver, carve the chicken breast meat off and reserve. With the rest of chicken whacking hard through the bones to get sections about 3″ big. The more bone that is exposed, the more marrow that gets in the broth (translation: rich, flavorful). You can even whack several places along the bone just to expose more marrow. When the water boils, add chicken sections (not breast) and boil on high for 5 minutes. You’ll see lots of foam and “stuff’ come up to the surface. Drain, rinse your chicken of the scum and wash your pot thoroughly. Refill with about 4 quarts of clean, cold water.

Add chicken, chicken breast meat, onion, ginger and all of (A) in the pot and cover. Turn heat to high – let it come to boil, then immediately turn heat to low. Prop lid up so that steam can escape. After 15 minutes, remove the chicken breasts, shred with your fingers when cooled and set aside (you’ll serve shredded chicken breast with the finished soup). With a large spoon, skim the surface of any impurities in the broth. Skimming every 20 minutes ensures a clear broth. Simmer a total of 1-1/2 hours. Taste and adjust seasoning with more fish sauce and or sugar.

Strain the broth, discard solids. Prepare noodles as per directions on package. Ladle broth, add shredded chicken breast and soft noodles in each bowl.

Garnish liberally with herbs, sprouts, and lime juice, and enjoy!