Apparently I’ve been pronouncing pho wrong my entire life.
The traditional Vietnamese soup is one of my favorite take out meals of all time. Delicious, spiced broth served with fresh garnishes of lime, basil and bean sprouts really warms the soul.
But technically it is pronounced “fah“, not “foh” with a long o.
It’s a shame because that really limits the great puns you can create like, ” tonight let’s make faux pho fo sho.”
I suppose you can always go with, ” I eat my faux pho on the sofa.”
No matter how you pronounce it, this meal is just as much fun to prepare as it is to say.
Using a pressure cooker makes pho creation a breeze. The chicken creates its own velvety broth as it cooks with the spices. And the best part is that it will be ready to serve in well under and hour.
You want to make sure you use bone in, skin on chicken pieces in order to get a hearty broth. I went with about 4 pounds of mixed legs, breasts, and wings.
Pho is also great excuse to get creative with some exotic spices. I used a blend of coriander, cardamom, cloves, and cinnamon along with some ginger, cilantro, and onions.
Rinse the chicken pieces and throw them in the pressure cooker.
Toss in the spices, onions, a chopped stalk of lemon grass, and some fish sauce. Add enough cold water to cover everything, then lock the lid and set the timer for 30 minutes on high pressure.
[color-box]For more great recipes like this one, check out Paleo Date Night![/color-box]
I call this “faux” because I’m substituting spiralized daikon for rice noodles to make it a low carb pho. Daikon is a mild radish that is easier to find than you may think. I picked up this monster at my local Kroger.
While the pressure cooker is doing it’s thing, spiralize the daikon. Cut the strands every 3 or 4 inches to make them more managable when you are devouring the soup.
Now’s the time to also prep your pho fixin’s: sliced jalapeños, basil, sliced onions, bean sprouts, and lime wedges.
I don’t think bok choy is traditionally served in pho, but I like to use it as a way to sneak some added greens to the meal.
Once the pressure cooker timer goes off, release the pressure and carefully open the lid. Remove the chicken, and shred once it cools off a bit.
Strain the broth, and dump it back into the cooker. Bring it to a simmer and add the chopped bok choy. Cook for 5-6 minutes until it’s just tender, then add the spiralized daikon and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
Divide the daikon noodles and shredded chicken into bowls. Ladle in some broth, and top with the garnishes. Enjoy!
[color-box]For more great recipes like this one, check out Paleo Date Night![/color-box]
Chicken Faux Pho
Ingredients
- 4 lbs assorted chicken pieces bone-in and skin on
- 2 medium onions quartered
- 1 inch ginger peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 tablespoon coriander seed
- 1 teaspoon green cardamom pods
- 1 black cardamom pod
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 4 cloves
- 1 lemon grass stalk trimmed and cut into 2 inch pieces
- 1/4 cup fish sauce
- 1 cup fresh cilantro
- 1 head bok choy roughly chopped
- 1 large daikon root spiralized
- sea salt to taste
For Garnish
- lime wedges
- fresh basil
- mung bean sprouts
- 2 jalapenos thinly sliced
- 1/4 onion thinly sliced
Instructions
- Add the coriander seeds to a dry skillet. Toast over medium low heat until fragrant a golden brown, 5- 6 minutes.
- Rinse the chicken pieces and add them to the pressure cooker. Add the dry spices, cilantro, onion, lemon grass, and fish sauce. Pour in enough cold water to cover.
- Cover the pressure cooker and lock the lid. Set the timer from 30 minutes on high pressure.
- After the timer goes off, release the pressure and carefully open the lid. Remove the chicken pieces and shred once cool.
- Strain the broth and add it back to the pressure cooker. Taste and add sea salt. Bring to a simmer and add the bok choy and spiralized daikon. Cook for 5- 6 minutes until tender.
- Divide the noodles and shredded chicken into bowls and ladle in the broth. Serve with the garnishes and enjoy!
The ingredient or equipment sections above may contain affiliate links to products that I personally use or recommend!
Joan
Wednesday 15th of February 2023
Hi Brian! Thanks for this... looks delicious! I'm new to IP cooking and am wondering if my 6 qt. instant pot is big enough to fit this all... what size did you make it in?
The Sophisticated Caveman
Monday 20th of February 2023
Hi Joan! A 6 quart instant pot will work perfect! That is the exact size I used for this recipe!
Mrs. O
Sunday 23rd of January 2022
I was thinking the pho/faux puns were hilarious, I'm like this lady's so funny! Saw that it's a dude's recipe blog.. of course. I saw on another recipe that charring the onions and ginger imparts a unique flavor that is needed for pho, so that's what I did end up doing. That's interesting using daikon radish for noodles... If you like daikon, look up korean beef and radish soup. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
The Sophisticated Caveman
Wednesday 2nd of February 2022
Haha thank you--glad my horrible puns resonated (even if you initially thought I was a woman). And I am a huge fan of daikon, so I will definitely be checking out that soup!
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Steve
Thursday 16th of May 2019
Really delicious recipe, first time making Pho! Didn’t have a black cardamom pod but it still turned out great. Does anyone know how much of a difference the one black cardamom pod makes, just out of curiosity?