Faux pho is perfect quick fix for weeknight dinner
Are you a fan of pho? If you’ve never had it, pho is a Vietnamese noodle soup. It consists of a mountain of slurp-worthy rice noodles mingling in an umami-rich soup with meat, such as chicken or beef, or tofu and vegetables.
The bonus is the garnishes — a garden basket of leafy herbs, chilies and sprouts to scatter over the top, with squirts of lime, hot sauce and hoisin for good measure.
Pho is intoxicatingly aromatic, and a perfect remedy to fight a cold or simply satisfy a craving for Asian spice and heat. Once you taste it, you’ll be hooked.
The key to an authentic pho lies in its broth, an involved affair best left to the weekend, when you have time to fill your home with the slow-cooking aromas of simmering chicken or beef, while the stock reduces to a flavorful, soul-satisfying intensity.
The challenge, though (as cravings go), is that sometimes you just want pho NOW, when it’s not the weekend, when you’ve just arrived home, when it’s an hour before dinner, only leftovers are in the fridge and the nearest Vietnamese takeout is in the next county.
Here is a solution: It’s an inauthentic version I call fast pho — or, better yet, faux pho. Instead of making the stock from scratch, I use a good-quality storebought stock, embellish it with aromatics, and add leftover cooked chicken or rotisserie chicken from the market. It’s done in an hour and is a perfect quick fix for a crave-satiating weeknight dinner.
EASY PHO — VIETNAMESE CHICKEN RICE NOODLE SOUP
Note: This recipe is especially easy to make when you have leftover chicken in the fridge; otherwise, you can pick up a rotisserie chicken from the store or quickly poach a couple of chicken breasts.
Active time: 20 minutes, total time: 50 minutes, yield: 4 servings
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 large yellow onion, coarsely chopped 1 (2-inch) knob of fresh ginger, coarsely chopped
6 cloves
2 star anise
1 (2-inch) stick cinnamon
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
½ teaspoon black peppercorns
6 cups chicken stock
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
8 ounces vermicelli rice noodles
1 pound cooked chicken meat, shredded 4 scallions, white and green parts thinly sliced ¼ cup fresh cilantro leaves
GARNISHES:
Sliced red or green jalapeno chilies Mung bean sprouts
Fresh mint or Thai basil sprigs
Lime wedges
Sriracha or Hoisin sauce
Heat the oil in a Dutch oven or deep skillet over medium. Add the onions and ginger; saute until fragrant and the onions begin to brown, about five minutes. Add the cloves, star anise, cinnamon stick, coriander seeds and peppercorns; saute until fragrant, about one minute. Add the stock, fish sauce, sugar and salt, and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 30 minutes.
While the soup is simmering, cook and drain the noodles according to the package directions.
Strain the soup through a fine mesh strainer into a clean pot. Add the chicken to the soup and simmer over medium-low until heated through, three to five minutes. Taste for seasoning and add more fish sauce, sugar or salt if needed. Divide the noodles between large serving bowls. Sprinkle an even amount of scallions and cilantro over the noodles. Ladle the soup into the bowls. Serve with the garnishes.