Pho Ga - Vietnamese chicken noodle soup

This is slow food. Chicken broth made by poaching a whole chicken with fragrant Asian spices. Serve with slippery rice noodles, fresh herbs, chili and veges to add brightness and texture. Delicious and satisfying. 



Ingredients - serves 4
For the broth:
1 small free range chicken
3 litres water (this will need topping up through the cooking time)
1 medium or 2 small onions halved or quartered
1 cinnamon stick
4 whole cloves 
3 whole star anise
Big chunk of fresh ginger chopped into inch cubes
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
To serve:
1 pack rice noodles prepared to packet instructions
Spring onion cut into strips
Fresh herbs - basil, mint coriander
Fresh chili chopped (or chili flakes)
Fresh lime cut into wedges

Method
Put water into a large, deep pan and place on stove to bring to the boil. 
Stud the onions with cloves (to prevent the cloves floating around)
Place the onions in the water. 
Rinse the chicken and place in the pot with the onions. 
Add all other broth ingredients
Bring to the boil then turn down to a simmer.
Leave to simmer until the chicken is cooked through - about an hour.  Check the water level and top up if needed. 
Remove the chicken from the broth (keep the broth simmering). 
Leave the chicken to cool and strip all the meat off the bone - cover and refrigerate until needed. 

Put all the bones and skin back in the broth and leave simmering for at least another hour.  Keep an eye on the water level and top up if it has reduced too much. 
Place a colander over a large bowl to strain the broth. 
Return the broth to the pot through a sieve to strain further. 
Bring back to the boil ready to serve. 
Cook the noodles according to packet instructions. 
Shred the chicken and prepare all the garnishes to assemble the bowls. 
To serve:
Place noodles in each bowl. 
Add chicken to one side and spring onions to the other. 
Pour a large ladle of broth over the noodles. 
Top with bean sprouts, herbs, chili and a lime wedge. 
The left overs make s great lunch to take to work. 






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