Vietnamese Chicken Pho Bowl with Rice Noodles

• 4chicken breasts
• 1½litres good chicken stock, gluten-free
• 100 gbean sprouts
• 200 gflat rice noodles
• 1cinnamon stick
• 1 tbspfresh ginger, sliced
• 3spring onions, green tops only, sliced
• 1long red chilli, sliced
• 2 tbspfish sauce
• 2star anise
• 15 gfresh coriander
• 15 gfresh mint
• 2limes, cut into wedges
• 1 tbsptamari
• Fine salt and black pepper

Method

1. 1Tip the chicken stock into a large saucepan with the star anise, cinnamon stick, sliced ginger and fish sauce. Bring to a gentle simmer over a medium heat; you want lazy bubbles, not a rolling boil, and within two minutes the kitchen should smell of warm spice. A hard boil bruises the aromatics and turns the broth cloudy.
2. 2Season the chicken breasts with salt, then slip them into the simmering broth and poach over a low heat for 15–18 minutes, until the thickest part reaches 75°C for 30 seconds. Lift them out, rest for a couple of minutes, then shred with two forks along the grain.
3. 3Strain the broth through a sieve to catch the spices and ginger, then return it to the pan. Taste it now; really taste it. Adjust with tamari and a little more fish sauce until it's deeply savoury and rounded; most of the salt comes from the fish sauce, but a small pinch of salt at the end ties it all together.
4. 4While the broth holds at a low simmer, cook the rice noodles per packet instructions, usually 4–5 minutes in boiling water until tender but still with a little bite. Drain and divide between four deep bowls.
5. 5Pile the shredded chicken on top of the noodles, then ladle over the steaming broth so it slips through the strands and warms everything through.
6. 6Finish each bowl with spring onion greens, generous handfuls of coriander and mint, a tangle of bean sprouts and a scatter of red chilli. Serve with the lime wedges alongside; a squeeze of lime at the table is important, the acid lifts the broth from savoury to alive.

Per serving

kcal

528

protein

62.3g

fibre

3.4g

carbs

50.4g

fat

7.7g