Phở Gà - Chicken Pho

Light and healthy. It makes a great hangover cure.

Difficulty: Easy to Medium

Pho ga is a less popular version of the pho that everyone loves.  It is simple, mild, and delicate.  I think the dish is ugly because there is no way to make chicken pretty for this dish.  What it lacks in outward appearance, it makes up in flavor.  For pho ga, I find that a free range chicken (gà đi bộ) or a chicken feed a vegetarian diet offers the best flavor.  Like in most Asian cooking, you want to aim for a clear broth. You will achieve this by washing the chicken thoroughly, a slow boil, and removing any impurities that comes up when cooking.

Broth:

1 whole chicken

2 chicken leg quarters

2 inch knob ginger or 1/2 tsp ginger powder

1 large onion, peeled and halved

2 whole star anise

1 bunch of cilantro stems or 1 tbsp coriander seeds

1-2 cubes of chicken bouillon, optional, Maggi brand

1 tbsp size yellow sugar

1 stick Saigon cinnamon

2 tbsp fish sauce

3-4.5 qts Water

Bowls:
1 pkg pho noodles

1/2 onion (red or yellow) sliced thinly

Chopped green onions/scallion, green parts only is preferred but you can use the whole stem

Chopped cilantro leaves, or the whole stem if you want more of a cilantro kick

Lime wedges

Mung bean sprouts, optional

Thai bird peppers

Culantro leaves

Fried garlic and shallots

Lemon basil (aka Thai basil)

Split the chicken into 11 pieces (2 drums, 2 thighs, 2 wings, halving the 2 breast, and backbone).  Wash the individual pieces well, concentrating on the backbone more since this piece is where a lot of the scum will come from.  Do the same to the leg quarters.  You can split the drum and thighs more to expose more of the bone to get more of the chicken flavor.  Add to a 6-qt stockpot or larger and use enough water to cover the chicken.  Bring water to a boil, but don't allow for the water to come to a rolling boil.  If that happens, it will incorporate the "scum" into the broth and cloudy up the broth.   Peel and skewer the onion with toothpicks (to prevent it from falling apart in the broth) and add to the pot.Split the chicken into 11 pieces (2 drums, 2 thighs, 2 wings, halving the 2 breast, and backbone).  Wash the individual pieces well, concentrating on the backbone more since this piece is where a lot of the scum will come from.  Do the same to the leg quarters.  You can split the drum and thighs more to expose more of the bone to get more of the chicken flavor.  Add to a 6-qt stockpot or larger and use enough water to cover the chicken.  Bring water to a boil, but don't allow for the water to come to a rolling boil.  If that happens, it will incorporate the "scum" into the broth and cloudy up the broth.   Peel and skewer the onion with toothpicks (to prevent it from falling apart in the broth) and add to the pot.Dry toast the star anise, Saigon cinnamon, and coriander seeds. Wrap in a cheese cloth or add to a large tea infuser.  Smash the ginger or slice it to get a large surface area.  Tie up the cilantro stems. Add to pot.  Skim any "scum" that surfaces. Allow for the broth to simmer for about 1.5 hrs on low heat offers the best flavor but 45 minutes to 1 hr on medium heat will produce a nice broth.Always remove the chicken about 40-45 minutes and set aside to cool before shredding.  You can remove the tea ball or sachet at this point if you like.  Add the remaining ingredients.  The bouillon cubes can be used if there isn't enough "chicken-ness" to your broth.  (Happens more when you use a conventional chicken.) Adjust the level of saltiness with fish sauce or kosher salt.Shred the chicken by hand to give texture and contrast to your bite.  I like to mix the dark and white meat together, but some people only enjoy the white meat, so you can separate them.  Arrange each bowl with a handful of pho noodles, thinly sliced onions, chicken, sprouts, and green onions.  Ladle the hot broth over it to soften them.  Add the herbs and lime at the end.  You can dress your pho with hoisin and sriracha if you like.