Chicken Pho
Jan. 20th, 2008 01:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
khiemtranChicken Pho (pronounced "fur") is the Vietnamese cultural equivalent of a roast chicken. Instead of cooking the chicken in an oven, you use it to make a broth which you then eat with rice noodles, the meat from the chicken and an assortment of fresh herbs and bean sprouts.
The whole process takes about four hours, although the execution is simplicity itself (again, much like roast chicken). A whole chicken and ginger, zero to four chicken carcasses (depending on how many you can find), three litres of water, two chopped onions, salt, pepper and four tablespoons of fish sauce. Boil, skim the top for impurities, remove chicken after half an hour or so (if you managed to find at least two chicken carcasses, otherwise leave it in), simmer, simmer, simmer.
After about four hours, put some fresh rice noodles into each bowl, add some of chicken meat, then pour the broth on top, serve with raw bean sprouts, basil (preferably asian basil, "rau ram" or whatever Vietnamese herbs you can find), lime or lemon and chilli to taste.
The nice thing about it is the balance of textures and flavours. You have the slippery soup, the soft noodles, the crispy bean sprouts and herbs, and relatively simple chicken stock combined with the taste and smell of the herbs, the tang of the lime and the bite of the chilli. It's a good example of what Vietnamese cooking is all about, the combination of contrasts to make a balanced whole, rather than a blend.
I happened to buy some fresh rice noodles in Chatswood yesterday (good ones can't be found locally) and then, to my delight, I managed to find chicken carcasses for 50 cents each at my local shopping centre. So, as you might guess, there's now a stockpot on the stove and simmering...
The whole process takes about four hours, although the execution is simplicity itself (again, much like roast chicken). A whole chicken and ginger, zero to four chicken carcasses (depending on how many you can find), three litres of water, two chopped onions, salt, pepper and four tablespoons of fish sauce. Boil, skim the top for impurities, remove chicken after half an hour or so (if you managed to find at least two chicken carcasses, otherwise leave it in), simmer, simmer, simmer.
After about four hours, put some fresh rice noodles into each bowl, add some of chicken meat, then pour the broth on top, serve with raw bean sprouts, basil (preferably asian basil, "rau ram" or whatever Vietnamese herbs you can find), lime or lemon and chilli to taste.
The nice thing about it is the balance of textures and flavours. You have the slippery soup, the soft noodles, the crispy bean sprouts and herbs, and relatively simple chicken stock combined with the taste and smell of the herbs, the tang of the lime and the bite of the chilli. It's a good example of what Vietnamese cooking is all about, the combination of contrasts to make a balanced whole, rather than a blend.
I happened to buy some fresh rice noodles in Chatswood yesterday (good ones can't be found locally) and then, to my delight, I managed to find chicken carcasses for 50 cents each at my local shopping centre. So, as you might guess, there's now a stockpot on the stove and simmering...
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no subject
Date: 2008-01-20 08:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-20 08:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-20 09:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-20 08:12 pm (UTC)Don't worry, it doesn't smell like fish. (It smells much worse than that.)