what the pho?

One of the best parts of my job is working with all different kinds of people from different cities and unique backgrounds. For some, therapy is getting back into the kitchen and doing what you love. It is my patient' s turn to teach me something when we are in the kitchen. I have learned to make some of our favorite dishes from watching and listening as these people heal.

Today I pieced together a recipe from an old shopping list I found in my binder at work, a hazy memory, and some (actual) recipes found on Google. The dish is pho (pronounced "fuh?') and I chose to make it with chicken like the original woman who showed it to me, but it can be made with beef or vegetables.

Clayton and I first tried pho at Rice Paper, a Vietnamese restaurant close to our house. It is especially delicious on a cold night! I was so excited to try and make something that we enjoy so much, and something that was never served in our family home growing up.

The ingredient list is fairly basic, I only needed a few things to throw it together. After a brief trip to the market I came up with the following:

Pho:
6 cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons fish sauce
4 cloves freshly chopped garlic ( or to taste)
2 clove star anise
1 chicken breast
1 package rice noodles (I used udon noodles because it's what we had)

Toppings:
bean sprouts
cilantro
green onion
sweet chili paste
hoisin sauce


First I mixed the chicken stock, fish sauce, garlic, and star anise in a pot and brought it to a boil and then reduced heat and allowed it to simmer. Simultaneously, I boiled the chicken breast. Some recipes called for boiling the chicken in the pho, but I didn't want any weird stuff from the chicken coming off into the broth. Also, I am a total freak about undercooked chicken. My chicken turned out a little dry, but I am convinced I am going to get salmonella poisoning. If you have been doing this longer than me (anyone) you probably won't have this problem. After boiling the chicken I shredded it into generous chunks and added it to the pho.

Don't forget about the noodles! I nearly did! Mine took 13-14 minutes to simmer, so depending on how long you have to allow your pho to simmer on the stove you can start the noodles first for a quicker dinner or after for more flavor.

 

I chopped the cilantro and green onion and mixed the two together, however they can be served separate. I rinsed the beans and the toppings were done!

The best part about the dish is that everyone gets to dress their own to make it sweeter or spicy depending on preference. I added a handful of bean sprouts, about half a tablespoon of hoisin sauce, a heap of chili paste, and finished it off with cilantro and green onion. The bean sprouts give it a nice crunch, and the chili paste gives it a sweet and spicy flavor.

i promise i hang out outside of my kitchen.