So, I’m a bit of weird one when it comes to soups. It must be my Danish side that shows it’s face, but I can eat soup even when it’s 35-40 degrees outside & everyone wants something cold – I want soup! This strange side also resulted in me, as a very young girl, sitting inside watching Christmas movies & having hot chocolate when it was nice & hot outside (which is only 3 months out of 12 in Denmark – if we’re lucky!). Anyhow, back to the soup..

I love soups. All types of soups. Soups are great, filling and amazing to incorporate into your weekly meal plan – they are easy to shop for, cheap & you can basically throw in whatever you feel like and they are very hard to mess up!

Today, I worked on a Phở Gà, also known as just ‘Pho’ or Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup – whatever floats your boat.

As most of you may know, I mainly eat a vegan or at least vegetarian diet during the week, but recently I’ve been on strict orders from my Doctors to eat more animal protein, so I better obey.

This Pho has a classic broth, but I decided to variate it with non-traditional veggies to compliment the broth.

You can also alter this Pho so it suits your vegan lifestyle. Replace the chicken stock with Vegan Vegetable Stock and replace chicken with Tofu or Tempeh for example. Substitute fish sauce with soy-sauce or Tamari (it won’t taste completely the same, I think, but it’s one of the closest things you’ll come to the saltiness)

Ingredients:

• 1-2 star anises
• 2 cloves
• 1/2 tbsp coriander seeds
• 4 1/2 cups chicken stock
• 1 small onion (roughly chopped)
• 1 piece of ginger (5 cm – chopped to pieces & smashed)
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp palm sugar
• 200 grams Bean Vermicelli Noodles
• 1/2 large red capsicum (julienned)
• 3 yellow button squashes (cut into pieces)
• 8 small button mushrooms (cut into quarters)
• 1 small onion (roughly chopped)
• 200 grams chicken breast/tenderloins (cut to 2 cm pieces)
• Parsley

Directions:

1. In a skillet, toast star anise, coriander seeds and cloves over medium heat until fragrant. Remove from heat.
2. In a medium pot, place ginger, onion, toasted spices, and chicken stock. Bring it to a boil.
3. When the stock is boiling, lower the heat to a gentle simmer. Add in fish sauce and palm sugar. Let it simmer about 20 minutes.
4. Strain the broth and throw away any solids. Then taste and adjust to your liking. Add more sugar or salt if needed (e careful with the salt, as chicken stock is already pretty salty).
5. Add chicken, capsicum, mushrooms and button squashes to the pot and let it simmer for about 10 minutes.
6. In the meantime, cook bean vermicelli noodles according to the packet. Divide by 4 bowls.
7. Ladle the soup over the noodles in the bowls and garnish with parsley.
8. ENJOY!

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Phở Gà