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Authentic Pho Ga (Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup)
4.8 from 84 votes

Authentic Pho Ga (Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup)

Authentic Pho Ga is a Vietnamese chicken noodle soup featuring a clear, aromatic broth infused with ginger, shallots, and a distinctive spice mix including cinnamon, star anise, coriander seeds, and black cardamom. Tender poached chicken is served atop rice noodles, complemented by traditional garnishes such as fresh scallions, thinly sliced onion, chili peppers, and lime wedges.

Prep Time
15 mins
Cook Time
1 hr 15 mins
Total Time
1 hr 30 mins
Servings: 4 people
Calories: 448 kcal
Course: Main Course, Breakfast, Soup
Cuisine: Vietnamese

Ingredients

  • 1 chicken about 3-3.5 lbs, whole
  • 3 ginger thumb-sized pieces, peeled and sliced in half vertically
  • 5 shallots large, peeled
  • 1 cassia cinnamon small piece of cassia bark or 1 cinnamon stick
  • 2-3 star anise
  • 1 tablespoon coriander seeds (or 3-4 cloves, please see Notes if using cloves)
  • 1 black cardamom pods cracked open
  • 2 teaspoons salt (plus more to parboil the chicken)
  • 2-3 tablespoons fish sauce
  • 9 cups water
  • rice noodles pho style
To serve
  • scallions
  • onion half, sliced very thinly
  • black pepper freshly cracked
  • bird's-eye chili pepper sliced
  • lime wedges

Instructions

Prepping steps
    Cup of Yum
  1. Add boiling water to a pot large enough to fit in the chicken. Add a pinch of salt and chicken to the pot. Let it boil for a minute, then remove the chicken and discard the liquid.
  2. In a pan over medium heat, dry roast the ginger and shallots until fragrant and lightly develop colors. Set ginger and shallots aside.
  3. Reduce the heat to medium low. Add cassia bark/cinnamon, star anises, coriander seeds and black cardamom pod (if using) and toast just until fragrant. Be careful not to let them burn. Put spices in a spice pouch.
Stovetop Method
  1. In a clean pot, add chicken, ginger, shallots, spice pouch, 2 teaspoons of salt and 9 cups of water. When it starts to boil, skim off any foams and lower heat to a gentle simmer. 
  2. Cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the chicken is just cooked through. You can test by using a meat thermometer, or inserting a chopstick and see if the juice runs clear. Remove the chicken from the stock pot.
  3. Put the chicken in an ice bath to stop the cooking. Then take it out of the ice bath, separate the meat from the bones. Add the bones back to the pot. Continue to simmer the broth for at least 45-60 minutes, or more until flavors are concentrated to your liking.
  4. Before serving, taste the broth and flavor with 2-3 tablespoons of fish sauce to taste.
Pressure Cooker Method
  1. Add 1 piece of ginger and half the shallots with the chicken to your pressure cooker. Add 2 teaspoons of salt and 6 cups of water. Close the lid and valve, pressure cook on High for 3-4 minutes (depending on the size of the chicken). 
  2. Slowly release the pressure manually. Remove the chicken from the pressure cooker, put it in an ice bath to stop the cooking. Then take it out of the ice bath, separate the meat from the bones. Add the bones back to the pressure cooker.
  3. Add the remaining ginger, shallots and the spice pouch to the pressure cooker. Pressure cook on High for 20-30 minutes (the longer the better), and let it release pressure naturally.
  4. Once pressure cooking is over, taste the broth and see if you can add some more boiling water without diluting the flavors. Before serving, flavor with fish sauce to taste.
Putting together
  1. While the broth is cooking, shred or slice the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Prepare pho rice noodles according to package instructions.
  2. Separate the white and green parts of the scallions. Thinly slice the green parts while quickly poach the white parts in the broth. Also slice the onion very thinly.
  3. Add pho rice noodles to serving bowls, top with chicken meat, scallions and thinly sliced onions. Top with freshly cracked pepper. Bring the broth back to a boil and then ladle broth into serving bowls. 
  4. Serve immediately with birds-eye chili and lime wedges on the side.

Notes

  • Adding extra chicken parts with bones to the broth increases its flavor depth.
  • The suggested spice blend includes coriander seeds, but substituting cloves and using them only in the last 10-30 minutes imparts a different, authentic Hanoi profile.
  • Avoid simmering cloves too long to prevent bitterness and altered aroma.

Nutrition Information

Calories 448kcal (22%) Carbohydrates 8g (3%) Protein 37g (74%) Fat 29g (45%) Saturated Fat 8g (40%) Cholesterol 142mg (47%) Sodium 2035mg (85%) Potassium 527mg (11%) Fiber 2g (8%) Sugar 2g (4%) Vitamin A 265IU (5%) Vitamin C 6.1mg (7%) Calcium 74mg (7%) Iron 2.7mg (15%)

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 4 people

Amount Per Serving

Calories 448

% Daily Value*

Calories 448kcal 22%
Carbohydrates 8g 3%
Protein 37g 74%
Fat 29g 45%
Saturated Fat 8g 40%
Cholesterol 142mg 47%
Sodium 2035mg 85%
Potassium 527mg 11%
Fiber 2g 8%
Sugar 2g 4%
Vitamin A 265IU 5%
Vitamin C 6.1mg 7%
Calcium 74mg 7%
Iron 2.7mg 15%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.