This is pretty great. My improvements, based off what I've seen in Vietnamese restaurants, which I would highly recommend: 1. Make your own stock. Use raw chicken, cut it from the bone, and boil the meat and bone for a while. I used about one bone for each cup of broth I needed to make. Since I didn't have enough bones, I combined my homemade stock with store-bought stock. 2. Add a star anise while the bones simmer. It makes the soup more savory. 3. Offer cilantro, chili paste, and lime as garnish options. I would also recommend using a little more bean sprouts and bok choy than this calls for. Some might prefer a little less chicken. If you like your bean sprouts crispy at all, only use them as garnish; don't simmer them at all.
This makes a wonderful, complex flavor soup. I had most of the ingredients on hand for this (I live in California and my lemon grass grows in the front yard) and fixed it for dinner tonight. Only thing I didn't have was the bean sprouts, and although they would have been a nice addition, the soup didn't need them. This soup, although intensely flavorful, is not particularly spicy - if you are looking for hot, slice in some of those green Thai chilis or add some red pepper flakes. I think this would be good over Udon noodles also. Thanks for the recipe! UPDATE: I used homemade chicken stock (simmer the bones from rotisserie chicken in water or chicken broth to cover with vegetable trimmings - carrots, onions, celery - garlic, wine or vinegar, covered overnight on low, strain). Easy and delicious (salt as desired). Lemon grass should be left in 2" chunks and bruised, as it is just for flavor and not to be eaten.
It's a very tasty soup. If you'd like a more "authentic" Vietnamese Pho flavour add a 1/2" piece of cinnamon stick and 1 star anise (hard - starfish shaped)-found in Asian stores) and take them out after soup is done.
A great first recipe to start making Pho. Picked up a Pho season packet from the local Asian market, and had sliced jalapenos and limes ready to add as garnish. Turned out just like I like it.
This was very good and easier than expected. I didn't have any lemongrass, so just added lime instead. I also used more broth - about 8 cups, and next time I will add 1 T of fish sauce, instead of 2. I've heard adding hoisin sauce to pho is great, so I'll do that next time as well.
My mom makes chicken pho and I missed having it since moving half way across the country. Husband doesn't like fish sauce, so we used soy sauce instead. Didn't add bok choy, as it added too much to the soup. Instead just added a few leaves of fresh basil for garnish. Leave jalapeno slices, lime slices, Hoisin sauce and hot sauce (Sirachi) on table if individuals want to use them to change taste according to their preferences (which is typical for Pho dishes).
I doubled the recipe. Instead of using chicken broth, I substituted Chicken Pho Soup Base. I also added 2 stocks of celery, a green bell pepper, 2 cups of sliced portobello mushrooms during the final 5 minutes. Next time, I'll half the amount of chicken as it was too much. I served with cilantro, the bean sprouts, jalapeno, lime, basil and hot chili sauce on the table to add. I'd been craving pho all day and this is a keeper!! Yum!!
I've been trying to duplicate an Asian soup recipe they serve in the Employee Dining Room at work, and this did the trick. I added celery and carrots to the soup, floated a star anise in it briefly (too long makes the anise flavor too strong), and added some sliced fresh shiitake mushrooms. I served the green onions and the bean sprouts as a garnish instead of simmering them in the soup to retain their crispness. This was very good and my husband raved about it. Thanks so much for the recipe, Miss Ashley.
Great basic recipe and very easy.. I needed to change it a bit to make it work for my diet.. used vegtable stock instead of chicken stock.. used halved large prawns instead of cooked chicken... added just a bit of fresh ginger and topped with fresh cilantro when serving.. To keep the recipe Gluten Free I used the noodles I had on hand which were sweet potato noodles from Korea.. Rice noodles would have worked nicely if I'd had some.. I will make this again and again..
It was okay. I had to do a bit of doctoring to make it really taste authentic for me (I've been to Vietnam eaten a LOT of Vietnamese pho over the years). I used a little less of the ginger and added a bit of sinigang which is tart seasoning often used in Asian soups.
