Pho

I love pho!

We used to go out for pho until I realized that the ingredients were few and that I could make a great bowl of pho myself!

Plus I can make it to my liking not the restaurants ! ( I like it a bit hot.... Hubby not so much) 

Pho

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10 cups water

1/3 cup chicken soup base or Bovril or oxo  **to taste**

2 whole garlic cloves

2 star anise ( I get them at a bulk store)

5 cardamom seeds

1 cinnamon stick

1 large onion peeled and left whole

1 tbsp grated ginger

2 tbsp white sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

3/4 tsp garlic powder

2 tbsp fish sauce

1 tbsp brown sugar
Sliced cooked chicken

1 tsp Chilli paste * this is optional, but even just a little of it really makes the soup. Add more to taste

*** 1 tbsp peanut butter ... Again optional but it gives it a unique taste. I like the satay flavour.

*** vegetables .... Cut small.... Again optional.

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In a large pot bring 10 cups of water to a boil

Add enough chicken soup base to make give it a bit of a chicken flavour.

Add garlic cloves , star anise , cardamom seeds , cinnamon stick and onion

Simmer for 30 minutes.

Remove the spices and onion from the pot.

Add ginger

Add white sugar , salt , black pepper and garlic salt.

Add fish sauce

Add brown sugar

Add chilli paste

Simmer for 10 minutes.

At this point I added 2 carrots thinly sliced and some small brocolli florets. Mainly because I try to sneak in as many vegetables as I can, but also because it's really yummy this way.

I also added 1 tbsp of peanut butter ( trust me it works)

In another pot add rice noodles to boiling water and follow the directions on the package.

( I have used spaghetti noodles in a pinch and they work awesome too. )

Put some noodles in a bowl...

Add some soup....

Better than restaurant style .....

I really do love this soup...