A healthy eating idea.
Pho is a popular vietnamese dish which consists of a light beef, chicken or vegetable stock seasoned with spices and served with noodles and a selection of vegetables, herbs and meat. This recipe is really to introduce you to pho, allowing you to recreate your own varieties according to your taste.
It's a great dish to use up left overs from a roast chicken. Not only can the meat go in the pho, but the carcass can be used to make the stock.
To make a vegetarian pho, use vegetable stock and remove the meat from this recipe.
Serves 4
3 pints of stock (if you can make this yourself
it tastes even better)
1.5 inch piece of ginger, grated
2 cloves of garlic, grated
1 stick of lemongrass, bruised and very thinly sliced
Soy Sauce, (a few splashes, according to taste)
250 g mushrooms (oyster, shitake or chestnut mushrooms), sliced
3 pak choi,roughly chopped
5 oz/150gs of chicken, pre-cooked. (I usually pick this off a pre-roasted chicken. Or you could buy pre-cooked chicken legs or thighs and use these).
1-2 fresh red chillis, deseeded and chopped finely
1-2 fresh limes
Bunch of spring onion, thinly sliced
Couple of handfuls of bean sprouts
Handful of chopped basil or coriander
Hoisin sauce
Vermicelli noodles, cooked according to packet instructions
Put a large wok (or saucepan) on a medium heat and add the stock. Add to the stock the grated ginger and garlic, the sliced lemongrass and a decent splash of soy sauce. This gives you the basis of your soup stock. At this point you can add more flavours depending on your taste. Traditional pho flavours are star anise, cinnamon and black cardamon pods. Allow the flavours to infuse by simmering gently for a few minutes.
Next, add the mushrooms, pak choi and chicken and simmer for a further five minutes. At the end of this time add the chopped chillis and the lime juice. When adding the chillis and lime it's always best to add a little at a time until you've got it to the right heat/taste.
To serve the pho, choose deep bowls and add a layer of noodles at the bottom, then a sprinkle of chopped spring onions and bean sprouts. Cover this generously with the soup. The herbs (chopped basil or coriander) and hoisin sauce can be added to the dish according to taste. The hoisin sauce brings a lovely cinammony warmth to the flavour.
We hope you enjoy this healthy low fat recipe.