Can you tell I grew up eating a lot of Asian food? From dim sum in San Francisco while visiting family to Sunday night suppers at Mr. Lee’s Vietnamese restaurant on the west side of town to “Sushi Saturdays” with Dad, it is no wonder this blog features countless Asian recipes.
Recently I was craving pho, a Vietnamese noodle soup. If you’ve never tried it you are missing out. It is by far one of the most flavorful and delicious dishes you will ever taste. The fantastic broth is traditionally made by simmering beef bones (bone marrow = flavor) with beef, onions, ginger and a variety of warm spices including cloves, cardamom and star anise.
My recipe below is a quick and easy weeknight version made with chicken instead of beef to cut down on fat and calories. If you don’t have rice noodles, you can serve this over soba or even whole wheat vermicelli. If you happen to have extra beef bones laying around, be my guest.
No fork this time…just slurp and enjoy! Don’t forget the sriracha.
Faux Pho Soup
Ingredients
- 8 oz thin rice noodles
- 1 tbs sesame oil
- 2 tbs ginger (grated)
- 1 jalapeno (minced)
- 4 cloves garlic (minced)
- 12 c chicken broth (low sodium)
- ¼ c soy sauce
- 2 tbs fish sauce
- 2 tbs rice wine vinegar
- 2 tbs hoisin sauce
- 8 oz shitake mushrooms (thinly sliced)
- 4 scallions (thinly sliced greens reserved for garnish)
- 1 lb chicken breasts
- 4 c spinach
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Fresh cilantro (garnish)
- Lime wedges (to serve)
- Sriracha (to serve)
Instructions
- Place rice noodles in a bowl and cover with boiling hot water; set aside.
- Meanwhile, heat a large soup pot over medium-high heat and add sesame oil.
- Add ginger, jalapeno and garlic to the pan and cook for 30-60 seconds to release flavor.
- Pour in chicken broth, soy sauce, fish sauce, rice vinegar, hoisin, mushrooms and scallions.
- Bring broth to a boil then add in whole chicken breasts.
- Reduce heat to medium low and gently poach the chicken about 15-20 minutes or until fully cooked.
- Remove cooked chicken from broth and let cool enough to handle.
- Shred chicken breasts and add back into the broth.
- Bring soup to boil and add in spinach.
- Stir until spinach wilts.
- Drain rice noodles and fill bowls evenly with cooked noodles.
- Ladel chicken soup on top of noodles and garnish with plenty of extra scallions, cilantro and lime wedges.
I made this on a whim with some leftovers. It turned out so well! I am hooked and will be making asian soups regularly! Thank you :)
Oh I’m so glad you tried it and loved it!!