The Daring Cooks Make Steamy Kitchen’s Pho Ga
October 14, 2009 by Andrea 
Print This Post
Filed under Asian, Poultry, Soups & Stews
The October 2009 Daring Cooks’ challenge was brought to us by Jaden of the blog Steamy Kitchen. The recipes are from her new cookbook, The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook.
I was excited to see that Jaden would be our host for the October Daring Cooks challenge, especially since I finally got to meet her at BlogHer Food, but when I scrolled down and saw we would be making pho (pronounced “fuh?”) I almost got week in the knees. I’ve eaten pho at Vietnamese restaurants but have never made it at home, and none of my family had ever tasted it. I couldn’t wait to give them a taste of this soup that won my heart long ago.
Jaden gave us two options for making the pho: follow the recipe in her book (a shortcut version, see below), or follow the recipe on her blog (making stock from scratch). I chose to follow her scratch recipe because this is a Daring Cooks challenge, after all, though since I regularly make chicken stock and always have some in the freezer, I would probably choose the shortcut version for everyday meals.
Finding and selecting ingredients for Asian food can sometimes be a challenge, even in our large metropolitan area with representatives from just about every nationality on the planet. This time I stood in our large local international grocery store gazing at no less than 12 different brands of fish sauce but couldn’t find the star anise to save my life. Fortunately Jaden’s advice on how to buy fish sauce helped. Look for fish sauce that is colored like tea, not like Coca Cola, because the really dark stuff is inferior quality, and her favorite is Three Crabs Brand of fish sauce. While searching for Three Crabs Brand I also saw One Crab Brand, Two Crabs Brand, and Five Crabs Brand, and then there was Squid Brand and a whole bunch of others. I stood in the store aisle giggling as I looked at all the bottles and people probably thought this chick was nuts. I did finally find a bottle that said Three Crabs Brand in tiny print under a picture of three green crabs, so hopefully this is the right stuff. In any case it tastes better than other fish sauce I’ve tried, which sometimes just smell rancid, so I’m sticking with this one for now.
The spices for pho broth remind me of autumn, though I could eat this comforting soup any time of year.
We skipped the Sriracha and hoisin sauce accompaniments, just wanting to taste the unadulterated soup, though Michael did pile on one whole red jalapeno fresh from our garden. It turned out to be a spicy little devil that left him huffing and puffing while slurping and complaining about how he’s lost his chile eating mojo. Poor guy.
Jaden also gave us an optional sweet challenge, and I was very tempted to make her chocolate wontons, but for some reason sweets have not agreed with me lately and I decided I must reluctantly decline on those. They do look gorgeous and would make an easy and delicious cocktail party dessert.
Thanks to Jaden of Steamy Kitchen for hosting this month and for generously sharing the recipes from her new book. Her pho recipe won my family over and Michael said I can make this any time.
To see all of the pho and sweet wontons, visit The Daring Kitchen Blogroll and the Daring Bakers Gallery at Foodgawker.
STEAMY KITCHEN’S PHO GA
Adapted from The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook by Jaden Hair.
Makes 4 large servings.
Equipment
frying pan
6-quart pot with lid
tongs
strainer, sieve or colander
bowls for serving
Ingredients
BROTH
2 tablespoons whole coriander seeds
4 whole cloves
2 whole star anise
2 quarts (2 liters/8 cups/64 fluid ounces) store-bought or homemade chicken stock
1 whole chicken breast (bone in or boneless)
1/2 onion
1 3-inch (7.5 cm) chunk of ginger, sliced and smashed with side of knife
1 to 2 tablespoons sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons fish sauce (Jaden recommends Three Crabs brand.)
ACCOMPANIMENTS
16 ounces (500 g) dried rice noodles (about 1/4 inch/6 mm wide)
2 cups (200 g/7 ounces) bean sprouts, washed and tails pinched off
fresh cilantro (coriander) tops (leaves and tender stems)
1/2 cup (50 g/2 ounces) shaved red onions
1/2 lime, cut into 4 wedges
Sriracha chili sauce
hoisin sauce
sliced fresh chili peppers of your choice
Preparation
1. BROTH: Heat a dry frying pan over medium heat. Add the coriander seeds, cloves and star anise and toast until fragrant, about 3 to 4 minutes. Immediately spoon out the spices to avoid burning.
2. In the 6-quart pot, add the homemade stock, chicken breast, onion, ginger, sugar, fish sauce, and toasted spices and bring to a boil.
3. Reduce the heat to medium-low and let simmer for 20 minutes, skimming the surface frequently.
4. Use tongs to remove the chicken breasts and shred the meat with your fingers, discarding the bone if you have used bone-in breasts.
5. Taste the broth and add more fish sauce or sugar, if needed. Strain the broth and discard the solids.
6. Prepare the noodles per directions on the package.
7. TO SERVE: Ladle the broth into bowls. Then divide the shredded chicken breast and the soft noodles evenly into each bowl.
8. Have the accompaniments spread out on the table. Each person can customize their own bowl with these ingredients.
Previous Daring Challenges
You can find all of my previous challenges in the Daring Challenges tag list.
Fantastic job Andrea! I hope to make Jaden’s pho soon!
this looks amazing, I will try this. I love to go to my little Asia shop. it’s small, really small and still, most of the time I need help.
Yay, Andrea! I use the same fish sauce
Your pho looks beautiful. This was such a great recipe and I have to agree – it’s the DC challenge, make the stock from scratch (it was so amazing!). Love your description of that fiery little red jalapeno 
Hope he gets the spicy mojo back! xxoo
Great challenge, wonderful Pho! Very well done!
Cheers,
Rosa
Great job! Your pho looks amazing!
Nice job on the pho- have just discovered your blog and I’m really enjoying it!
It looks wonderful! I piled on the sriracha and the hot Thai chilies from my garden too.. very hot indeed! I can sympathize with your hubby.
if an actual restaurant served me pho ga with white breast meat, I’d have to send that freakin’ bowl back. Then again, Steamwhatevs ain’t Vietnamese, so I suppose that error has to be forgiven.