Easy But Tasty Chicken Pho Recipe

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This recipe seeks to preserve the essence and depth of Chicken Pho while ensuring it's accessible to anyone, regardless the location.

Supplies

A handful of cilantro/coriander and green onion
1 sweet onion
Thai basil, mung bean sprouts, lettuce, etc. based on the availability in your region

Chicken: Rinse the chicken pieces (oh a whole chicken in my case) under cold water, with a bit salt rubbing on the skin. Pat them dry with paper towels.
Parboiling (optional): In a large pot, bring water to a rolling boil. Add the chicken pieces and let them cook for about 2-3 minutes. After parboiling, discard the water and rinse the chicken pieces to remove any residue.
Onions: As a kind of vegetable to enjoy with Chicken Pho, you need to prepare onions before proceeding other steps, because it would take 1-2 hours to chill and make it less pungent. Dice the onion slice thinly, then rinse with salty water 2-3 times before soaking in cold water and keep it in refrigerator in the next hours, until finishing the broth and starting to assembling the bowl.

Using open flame (stovetop or grill), char the star anise pods, cilantro seeds, cinnamon stick and onions/shallots halves until the onions/shallots develop a slight blackened exterior. If an open flame isn't available, you can achieve a similar effect by roasting them on a pan.
After charring them, use a small Cotton Muslin Drawstring Bags (if any) to put all small spices like cilantro/coriander seeds, star anise pos and cinnamon stick in. You can even use a stainless steel tea infuser as well, but because it's quite small, just add cilantro/coriander seeds in. The rest, you can add them directly to the water to cook the broth.

Pour around 1.5 litre of water in the pot and gently put your chicken in. Now it's time to bring it to a boil.
During the first 20 minutes, periodically skim off any impurities or foam that rises to the surface using a fine-mesh skimmer or a spoon. Once it boils, wait for 30-40 minutes more to remove the chicken pieces out of the pot. It should be cooked through and tender. Set them aside to cool, then shred the meat off the bones or cut it into pieces. Return the bones to the pot to continue simmering if you wish for a richer broth.
Add all your charred aromatic spices: cilantro/coriander seeds, cinnamon sticks, star anise pods, onion/shallots to the broth. Let the broth simmer gently for 1 to 1.5 hours. If you use pressure cooker, the duration will reduce to 30-45 minutes.

Once the broth is flavorful, strain out and discard the solids.
Return the clear broth to the pot and bring it back to a gentle simmer. Season with salt & broth mix (optional, if any). Remember, it's easier to add more seasoning later, so start conservatively.

For our Pho, we're using dried rice noodles. You don't have to soak them, just add pho noodles directly into the cool water.
Now bring water to a boil. Once boiling, cook for about 3-5 minutes or until they're just tender, then turn off the heat. Carefully drain boiling water and immediately rinse with cold water for a firmer texture of the rice noodles.
Rinse rice noodles in cold water for a firmer texture.

In individual serving bowls, add a portion of the cooked noodles. Top with chicken and onion slices.
Bring the broth to a rolling boil. Pour the hot broth over the noodles and chicken in each bowl, ensuring that it covers the ingredients and fills the bowl.
Top with sliced green onions, cilantro, and a handful of bean sprouts. Place Thai basil, lime wedges, and sliced chilis on the side, allowing each person to customize their bowl.
While eating pho, you can adjust the taste of your bowl by adding hoisin sauce, siracha and pickled garlic slices.