Good "Pho" You

There are days where I don't feel like cooking even though I really enjoy cooking.  Like most people, it's the cleaning up afterwards that leaves much to be desired.  

So, I love to find ways to cook that are not only healthy and delicious, but easy to prepare with minimal cleaning to boot.  

One of my favorite foods to make that's so satisfying is Pho soup, a Vietnamese version of chicken soup.  Traditionally it's is a meal-in-a-bowl soup made with beef and beef bones.  However, this is my spin on Pho soup using roasted chicken.

I hate to measure (which is why I don't like to bake that much), so you'll have to adjust ingredients according to your taste.  The measurements provided are approximations.

Serves 4 

Ingredients:

1 roasted chicken

1 32 oz (907 g) chicken or vegetable stock

1 package of dried rice stick noodles (the small flat rice noodles)

1 cinnamon stick

1 tablespoon of sugar

1 oz fresh ginger pounded and crushed

1/2 yellow onion thinly sliced crosswise

1 thinly sliced scallion

1 tsp of sea salt

2 to 3  cups of water

1 tablespoon of fish sauce

Garnishes:

8 to 12 cilantro sprigs

4 fresh mint sprigs

4 to 8 fresh Thai basil sprigs

1 thinly sliced scallion

2 cups fresh bean sprouts

2 limes cut into wedges 

2 to 3 sliced fresh jalapeno, Serrano or Thai chile peppers

Sriracha HOT chili sauce

Fish sauce

Instructions:

Shred chicken by hand, set aside

Rinse bean sprouts, set aside

Place chicken and/or vegetable stock and water in a large stockpot with the cinnamon, yellow onions, scallions, fresh ginger, salt and sugar and bring to a boil over medium heat.  Reduce the heat to low and continue cooking for 1 hour.  Add the fish sauce and set aside.

Meanwhile follow package directions to cook rice noodles.  When noodles are done, about 8 minutes, remove from heat, drain in colander, rinse in cold water and set aside.  

To serve, place a handful of noodles in a large soup bowl.  Top with some bean sprouts and shredded chicken.  Garnish if desired with the fresh cilantro, scallions, mint and basil.  Ladle in the hot soup broth and sprinkle fresh lime juice.  Add more fish sauce to taste, and HOT chili sauce and fresh chile peppers for those who like some heat.

Hope you Enjoy.