20100608 compact Phở gà

Phở gà, in a nut shell: one small boiler chicken in a large pot of water, five or six full star anise pods, a large thumb of ginger skinned and cut into moderate chunks, and a few dashes of coarse sea salt. boiled and simmered for some time, indefinite, until one decides its time to cool it off and pull out the now over-boiled chicken (five hours start to stop?). again, in a large pot, all of the previous broth with everything previously added strained out. (the chicken is often set aside to cool completely and then picked clean for usable meat; i find the meat may be useful for a chicken salad, but otherwise it’s now too dry and unpleasant to be reused by itself, or as the meat portion in the served phở gà; there are ways to avoid this, but when life is busy with other things, i just let the damned thing cook.) i add three or four fresh star anise pods (everyone has their own flavor preferences; i really like the flavor) and set the broth to simmer. meanwhile, take a whole yellow onion (just a cheap yellow onion; no fancy onion for this peasant soup to perform properly), cut into quarters and char it; my mother chars it in an old cast iron skillet on the stove; i’ve done it this way as well as on the grill—both result in a tasty object for your broth, though burning it on a primitive fire might give it a somewhat more authentic “dirty” flavor; or maybe i just like to burn things on my grill. once charred add them to the broth and bring it back to a boil. now prepare the noodles: don’t make the amateur mistake of boiling the noodles in the broth; maybe with your cup’o'noodles, but this ain’t microwave lunch at the cubicle office. bring a different pot of water (i add a little salt) to boil; add the Phở noodles (bánh phở’) and boil; don’t over boil the noodles, and don’t pretend this is some Italian pasta dish where you can smack your lips and pronounce “al dente,” although it is more or less what you’re looking for, it’s just that this is not I-talian cooking; oddly enough, five minutes is usually the magic number. Drain the noodles and either 1) put them directly into each bowl; or 2) put them in a big bowl to await doling. the idea is that you’ll dole them out soon, so there’s no fear of creating a sticky mass; in any event the final preparation often mitigates this. so now to it: noodles in the bowl, add nice chicken pieces to the top (or don’t), add in some nước mắm (absolutely necessary; if you don’t like the flavor, then you have no business eating phở), add in whatever other little vegetal tidbits you feel are necessary, serve with basil, sprouts, chili peppers, lime, and anything else you need. above all else, enjoy it, preferably with others.