I can't really call this Chicken Pho, since its not really pho. Although it was inspired by it. I was feeling lazy but hungry which made me really happy I had made chicken stock earlier last week. These types of dishes are precisely the time where good stock makes a big difference. If I were to do this with store bought broth, I'd be adding ingredients to mask flavors. With homemade stock, I'm trying to enhance the flavor.
The noodles are just dry flat rice noodles, boiled until soft in plain water. Sometimes I'll add some salt if I am going to saute the noodles, but for the most part you don't need it since the broth brings a lot of flavor and the noodles do a great job soaking that flavor in.
As for the broth, I used the recipe from The French Laundry Cookbook to make chicken stock. From there I added the following (all approximated to taste):
1 Thai Chili, sliced (with seeds)
1 tbsp Fish sauce
1 large clove garlic, smashed
pinch of nutmeg, cinnamon, white pepper
I brought the broth the a simmer and then poured it over the cooked noodles and chicken.
The chicken I used was actually from bits of chicken I pulled of the carcass after making stock. My father has always eaten meat off bones after its been used in stock and its something I've come to enjoy over the years. Even though its pretty tasteless, it does have this great texture I tend to enjoy. Meat that's soft and tender like a braise, but dry. Again, in this application the broth is so flavorful that it works perfectly.
After the soup went in I added a few splashes of rice wine vinegar to the dish.
Something very simple to put together and extremely satisfying.
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