Fragrant Pho With Shredded Chicken

By Gousto

Fragrant Pho With Shredded Chicken

Venture to Vietnam for a taste of the country’s favourite soul-warming noodle soup. Loaded with subtle aromats and fresh herbs, this bowl of goodness will take you straight to the heart of Hanoi.

Ingredients

For 2 people [double for 4]

2 British chicken breast portions
25g pho broth paste
1 brown onion
1 carrot
10g coriander & mint
8ml fish sauce
1 lime
150g rice noodles
8ml Sriracha hot chilli sauce

You’ll also need

Vegetable oil, salt, pepper

Cooking instructions 30 mins

For 2 people [double for 4]

Step 1

Before you start cooking, take your chicken out of the fridge, open the packet and let it air. Boil a full kettle. Heat a large, wide-based pan (preferably non-stick with a matching lid) over a high heat with a generous drizzle of vegetable oil. Season the chicken breast portions with a pinch of salt and pepper.

Step 2

Once hot, add the seasoned chicken and cook for 3 min on each side or until golden. Reduce the heat to medium, add 80ml [120ml] boiled water to the pan and cover with a lid. Cook for a further 10-12 min or until the chicken is cooked through (no pink meat!)

Step 3

While the chicken is cooking, peel and finely slice the brown onion[s]. Top, tail, peel and chop the carrot[s] into matchsticks. Dissolve the pho broth base in 600ml [900ml] boiled water – this is your pho stock. Reboil half a kettle.

Step 4

Add the rice noodles to a bowl and cover them with boiled water. Set aside for 8-9 min or until softened. Once softened, drain the noodles and set aside. Once the chicken is cooked, transfer it to a clean board and reserve the pan.

Step 5

Return the reserved pan to a medium heat with a drizzle of vegetable oil. Once hot, add the sliced onion and cook for 4-5 min or until softened. While the onion is cooking, shred the chicken apart using two forks – this technique is known as ‘pulling’. Set the pulled chicken aside for later.

Step 6

Cut the lime[s] in half. Chop the coriander roughly, including the stalks. Strip most of the mint leaves from their stems, leave some on the stems. Tip: Hold the top of the herb sprigs firmly and slide your fingers down their lengths to easily remove the leaves.

Step 7

Once the onion has softened, add the drained noodles to the pan with the pho stock, fish sauce and pulled chicken and bring to the boil over a high heat. Once boiling, cook for 1-2 min or until the noodles are completely tender. Once tender, remove the pan from the heat and add the juice of 1/2 [1] lime – this is your chicken pho.

Step 8

Cut the remaining lime into wedges. Serve the chicken pho in bowls topped with the chopped coriander, mint leaves and carrot matchsticks. Drizzle over the sriracha (can’t handle the heat? Go easy!) and garnish with a lime wedge – this is your fragrant chicken pho.

Enjoy!