maryamlikesyoutu

[maryamlikesyoutu]

Here, make some PHỞ GÀ and feel better.

PHỞ GÀ Recipe by your friend Maryam Tu

What you’ll need for your stock

-Whole Chicken, free-range. The best kind of chicken is a what we call a “walking chicken” it’s obviously free-range hence the name, but it’s a little leaner than the sort of chicken you’d get in a western supermarket. I’s not injected with water or sodium. Try one of the Asian supermarkets, if you can, ask them to cut the feet off for you. Otherwise, you just cut them off at the joint yourself when you get home. If you can’t get your hands on a “walking chicken” any whole chicken will do the trick.

-Two large onions, preferably yellow

-Large nub of ginger, about 4”

-3-5 star anise 

-1 large stick of Saigon cinnamon (if you only have domestic cinnamon sticks, that’s fine but the taste will be slightly different.)

-Black Cardamom pod

-Coriander Seeds, about 1 teaspoon

-Daikon Radish, halved and peeled

-Fish Sauce (Red Boat is my favorite) you’ll need about 1 tablespoon for stock, but if I’m keeping it real, you’ll add more because you’ll make this soup to taste. Honestly, anytime I write that you put more than one tablespoon of anything into anything, esp. fish sauce, people bust aneurysms. 

-Rock Sugar (if you can’t find rock sugar, white or brown is fine) about a tablespoon. More to taste.

-Salt

-Banh Pho (fresh or dry FLAT white rice noodles) If you get them dry, please soak them in cold water for at least 4 hours before you cook them according to package. If you get them fresh, soak them in cold water as you’re setting out to make your soup.

-a tea ball or a spice ball to keep your toasted aromatics in. 

*PLEASE NOTE 

If you decide to skip my seasoning spices and use a pre-packaged spice mix for Pho, it’s all good. Do what’s right for you, if you can though, try this technique as it’s going to make a big taste difference*

What you’ll need for garnish

-Green Onions (the technique I use is to slice them at the green leafy bit off and then slice that into thin strips, I soak those in cold water until they curl up. I then take the whites of the scallion and chop thin rounds)

-Bean Sprouts (I like mine blanched for about 1 minute in boiling water and then strained)

-Dry-fried shallots (don’t make these, or you could… but you could buy them and save yourself the time and grease)

-1 red onion or 2-3 shallots sliced thinly (use a mandolin) 

-Culantro (no, not a typo) it’s also referred to as ngò gai or sawtooth cilantro (looks like a sawtooth dandelion green) You don’t need this, but you’ll be glad you got some 

-Cilantro

-Coriander Leaves

-Chili peppers (Chef’s preference; Bird’s eye, Serrano, Jalapeño, Fresno) whatever just slice thin and diagonal.

LIMES

Hoisin Sauce

Sriracha 

On to the method…

Toast your cinnamon, black cardamom, star anise, and your coriander seeds in a pan. Swirl them around for an even toast, you want them to start releases their aromatics without burning. This will take about 2 minutes on high heat. Set aside.

Take your onions and ginger (peels on) and roast them over an open flame. I use our bbq in the yard to do this, but if you have an electric range, you can make a foil “plate” and set it directly over your coils and char them that way or under your broiler. Yes, CHAR. You want them to blacken and to start releasing some sugars and juices. Once Charred, remove them to a butcher block and remove the skins on the onion and peel the charred skin off the ginger. Give them a little rinse and return to a bowl, set aside.

Peel your daikon, halve it and quarter if it’s a longer piece.

You’re going to need a large stock pot. Not a 4 quart or 6 quart cast iron, a large stockpot. Bring 6 liters of water to boil.

Take your chicken and give it a good scrub with some corse salt, inside and outside. I don’t use the innards of the bird for my soup, but I do leave the neck for more flavor in my stock. Feel free to omit. Once your bird is scrubbed, rinse thoroughly and trim excess fat around the cavity. I cut into the breast plate of the bird to partially split the breast plate, but not all the way. This allows for neater removal of the carcass when it’s poached through.

Now that your water is boiling, lower your chicken into the stock pot, keep it on boil for 5 minutes. Add your charred onion/ginger. Add your daikon. Add your spice ball or seasoning packet and lower your heat to simmer. 

Start skimming. You want a clean broth. Skim the scuzzy foam from the top with a fine mesh skimmer ( also sold at your friendly Asian grocery store) and skim the schmaltz off the top. Here’s a little pro-tip, if you can get the schmaltzy goodness aka dat yummy af chicken fat into a bowl on it’s own; take some scallion bulbs with about an inch of the green leafy part and let them live in that bowl of fat. It’ll infuse and elevate that rendered fat to a finishing condiment for your beautiful bowl of pho later. Anyway, SKIM. Make it clean, almost like a consommé. 

Your soup is going to simmer for at least an hour before you pull out your chicken and your veggies. Take this time to cut up your garnishes between SKIMMING YOUR SOUP. I made a few notes on how I like to garnish above.

Remove your veggies and discard. Remove your tea or herb ball. Take your chicken out and let it rest in a bowl, covered with saran or plate, for 30 minutes at least. Once cooled, either shred or chop meat and set aside.

While you’re resting your chicken. Season the soup. Add your fish sauce, rock sugar, and salt. TASTE YOUR SOUP. Honestly, I’m giving you a very rough measurement guideline in this recipe. You need to taste your food while you’re cooking it, otherwise it might not be that good y’all. Here’s the other part of this sentiment, ADJUST TO TASTE. You know what this means, do not play. 

When your chicken’s cut or shredded, when your stock is ready and adjusted to your taste (sorry, I’m petty) when your herbs are all cleaned, chopped, plated and ready to go; Make your noodles. Noodles should be the last thing that you make, because if you’ve been soaking them like I noted at the beginning of all this, it’ll only take you 2-3 minutes to boil them. 

GET YOUR BOWLS OUT.  Start with noodles in your bowl first, layer chicken, then broth, then add green onion, leafy veggies/ bean sprout, and sliced red onion or shallot. Add your dry fried shallots, and sliced chili pepper. 

Additional dressings are lime juice, quick pickled red onion, hoisin, and sambal or sriracha, and the scallion-infused schmaltz for all you overachievers.

Enjoy and just think, you can unlock another bonus level and hmu for the ginger fish sauce recipe that a lot of Viet folx use to dip their chicken in when eating this pho.

I’m fairly certain I left something out, or you’re going to have some questions. Just let me know. xo