This is what I call my “Makeshift Pho” recipe — it isn’t very close to actual pho, which usually involves a delicate, complex broth with all sorts of spices and low simmering, but the closest Vietnamese restaurant to me is over an hour away, so I have to make do with my imagination, a little googling, and what I’ve got stocked in my kitchen. This recipe is a “to-taste recipe,” — more of a guideline than a steadfast set of ingredients and rules and so it’s EXTREMELY adaptable. It’s soup that I make practically every week and it always, without fail, hits the spot.
Here’s what you’ll need:
Rice or vermicelli noodles
shredded cooked chicken, turkey, or whatever
~1 inch of ginger, chopped into 2 or 3 pieces
1 smashed garlic clove
2 cups good chicken stock (preferably homemade!)
1-2 tablespoons soy sauce
1-2 tablespoons fish sauce
1-2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
Lime wedges
Cilantro and/or mint
Sriracha (optional)
Add your chicken stock, ginger, and smashed garlic clove to a pot and bring it to a simmer over medium heat, ~10 minutes. Add the soy sauce, fish sauce, hoisin sauce and sugar (start with the smaller amounts first), then the vermicelli noodles. While the vermicelli cooks, taste the broth and adjust to your liking. When the noodles are al dente, add your shredded chicken, letting it heat through, then take the soup off the stove and top with a squeeze of lime, some cilantro and mint, and a drizzle of sriracha.
