Light Chicken Pho

Ingredients

• 600 g chicken breast
• 1.5 litres good chicken stock
• 200 g beansprouts
• 200 g rice noodles, cooked
• 1 thumb fresh ginger, sliced
• 1 cinnamon stick null
• 3 spring onions, sliced
• 3 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 star anise
• 30 g fresh coriander
• 2 limes, cut into wedges
• Pickled cucumber, to serve

Method

1. Tip the stock, ginger, star anise and cinnamon into a large pot. Bring up to a gentle simmer — you want lazy bubbles breaking the surface, not a rolling boil — and let it infuse for 15 minutes, until the kitchen smells warm and spiced.
2. Season the chicken breasts with salt and slip them into the broth. Poach gently for 12–15 minutes, until firm to the touch and just cooked through. A hard boil here toughens the meat; keep it barely trembling. Lift the chicken out, rest for two minutes, then shred into rough strands with two forks.
3. Strain the broth through a fine sieve into a clean pan and return to a low simmer. Stir in the fish sauce, then taste, season, taste again — most of the salt comes from the fish sauce, but a pinch more salt and a few twists of pepper often ties it together. Adjust now, not at the table.
4. Divide the cooked noodles and beansprouts between four deep bowls. Ladle the steaming broth straight over the top so the beansprouts wilt slightly and the noodles loosen in the heat.
5. Pile the shredded chicken over each bowl, scatter generously with sliced spring onions and torn coriander, tuck a few pickled cucumber slices alongside, and finish with a good squeeze of lime juice over each bowl — the acid sharpens the broth and pulls every aromatic into focus. Serve the remaining lime wedges on the side.