Phở Gà (Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup)
Difficulty 3/5 Ingredients 22 Steps 7
Pho ga is a Vietnamese chicken noodle soup dish. It is considered one of the culinary gems of Vietnamese cuisine, available within a mile radius of almost every person in the community of Little Saigon, a Vietnamese enclave located in Orange County, California. Although the flavors are complex, the technique is simple, and the result is delectable.
Ingredients
Seasoning pouch
- 1 tsp fennel seed
- 1 tsp peppercorns
- 3 whole star anise
- 1–2 dried cardamom pods
- ½ stick cinnamon
- 3 whole cloves
Soup
- 1 small to medium chicken (whole)
- 12 cups chicken broth
- 3–4 slices of fresh ginger (whole)
- 1 medium whole brown onion, peeled
- 1 tbsp salt or more (to taste)
- Fish sauce, to taste
Serving
- Pho rice noodles (often called bánh phở, rice noodles, or rice sticks)
- Chopped cilantro and green onion
- A few fresh basil leaves, torn
- Fresh bean sprouts
- Thinly sliced brown or white onion (several pieces per serving)
- Hoisin sauce (1 tsp per serving, or to taste)
- Lime (squeezed into broth before eating)
- Jalapeños, serranos, or other chilli peppers
- Sriracha or similar chilli sauce
- Additional fish sauce
Steps
- Combine seasoning pouch ingredients in small strainer or cheesecloth pouch tied with twine.
- Boil soup ingredients with seasoning pouch in large stock pot until chicken is thoroughly cooked.
- Remove chicken. Strain broth back into pot. Keep simmering.
- Cool chicken. Pull meat into bite-sized pieces. Discard bones.
- Boil pho noodles in sufficient water in separate pot, like spaghetti, until no longer chewy. Do not overcook or they fall apart.
- Pour noodles into colander. Rinse with lukewarm water. Drain.
- Add drained noodles to bowl. Add chicken, serving ingredients and enough broth to cover noodles.
Notes from the original
- All of these ingredients can be found in Asian markets and some large supermarkets.
Source. Adapted from “Cookbook:Phở Gà (Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup)” by Wikibooks contributors, revision of 2025-06-21, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Changes. Steps rewritten into short commands. Introduction shortened. Wiki formatting removed. This adapted recipe is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.