"What the pho?! ...How can you be out of chicken?"

For the past three days straight, hovering clouds and damp weather has put my husband in the mood… for “pho” …chicken pho to be specific.  Tuesday night, I opted for takeout from my favorite pho house in downtown…by seven o’clock they had already ran out of chicken pho, chicken porridge, chicken salad….and all things chicken.  Wednesday night, we went to a different restaurant, which advertises that they specialize in chicken pho.  Neither of us ended up finishing our bowls because the broth lacked flavor and they used too much MSG.

So tonight, I’m going to make my own pot of Chicken Pho for the first time.  Just please don’t tell my mom because she would never believe that I could pull off an authentic version.  Understandable given my mother makes the best home made chicken noodle soup!  Hands down, no contest.  But I will respectfully try to match her genius.

To me, a perfect pho is a one bowl wonder and soul satisfying.  Pho can be consumed for breakfast, lunch, dinner or late night snack.   This famous soup from Hanoi can be made with beef, chicken, seafood…or made as vegetarian.  It can also be a served as soup, or deconstructed as a tossed noodle salad with broth on the side.  The key to any pho is an excellent broth.  Here’s what I always look for with Chicken Pho: 

• clear rich chicken broth made from scratch --with a balance of toasted cinnamon, ginger, star anise, parsnip and roasted sweet onions
• no MSG
• moist poached chicken meat
• pho rice noodles that are tender blanched and not stuck together.

--Now I'm off to buy chickens, wish me luck!  Results will be posted.