14 hours Ago By [email protected] (Amrita Ray)
A rich, umami-packed bowl of soupy noodles can be the ultimate balm to nourish your body and soul. And nothing fits the role better than the steamy national dish of Vietnam: pho. The traditional pho recipe calls for both beef and beef bones (for the broth), but a pot of shortcut healthy chicken pho can be just as satisfying.
And if you happen to have picked up a rotisserie chicken, you can whip up this in minutes. But you don't need a whole chicken to make pho — leftovers work just as well. Picking up a high-quality premade chicken broth can shave hours off the time to make this dish.
As for the rotisserie chicken, just shred it and drop it into the broth to simmer for a few minutes. Drizzle in some Sriracha and add a splash of fish sauce to taste, if you're aiming for that classic pho flair. To avoid a mushy texture, add your precooked narrow rice noodles into the steaming broth right before serving.
Pho is traditionally garnished with bean sprouts, but cabbage can be a good alternative. Top that up with some fresh Thai chiles and basil, cilantro, and a zesty lime wedge. How to add more flavor to your pho broth If you're worried your pho won't taste as good with store-bought broth, there's a simple hack to upgrade your store-bought broth : Simmer it with herbs.
Star anise, fennel, cinnamon, coriander, and clove will lend a traditional flavor to your pho. It's also best to start by charring some onions and ginger to build a smoky base before you add the broth and herbs to the pot. Additionally, you can add a square of pho bouillon — the easy way to make pho broth .
Let it simmer for one to two hours, taste testing along the way. You can make your pho broth even richer by stirring in the chicken drippings from the bottom of the rotisserie container. If you have a whole rotisserie chicken, you can toss in bones or the whole carcass to simmer and deepen the chicken flavor.
Add them the same time you drop in the herbs, and be sure to strain out any solids before serving. Add the shredded chicken to simmer, noodles and garnish, and you've got a steaming bowl of shortcut chicken pho that tastes like it took hours to make..
