Semi Homemade Chicken Pho

Semi Homemade Chicken Pho... I've blogged about my love of Pho before but only eating it at a Vietnamese restaurant. I have never dared to venture on this journey at home, but this weekend at my local Mariano's I found something totally inspiring. This package called Happy Pho - made by a company called Star Anise Foods. It's a Pho kit essentially that provides the spices and the brown rice noodles, then you do the rest. I also figured this would be a perfect opportunity to use up my second week of shredded chicken and set out to prepare it last night. It was perfect & I am so excited to have found this lovely product.

First of all the ingredients are so simple and organic that there is no fear of adding something totally fake and toxic to your broth. Here is the list of ingredients in the seasoning pack.

• Organic star anise
• Saigon Cinnamon
• Dried shitake mushrooms
• Spring onion
• Black cardamom
• Ginger

I mean what isn't enticing about that list? Unless you don't like mushrooms (cough cough - MOM), then you can choose the Ginger Pho kit instead!

It also came with a package of brown rice noodle's - that ingredient list was just as impressively simplistic:

• Brown Rice
• Water
• Organic Green Tea
• Salt

I mixed this with water instead of chicken broth

The brown rice noodles and the spice packet

Happy Pho!

How to:

Bring a pot of 4-6 cups of stock (chicken or veg) to a boil - I used water and Better than Bouillon. Then add the seasoning and simmer for a couple minutes. At that point I added my refrigerated homemade shredded chicken, a few stocks of diced asparagus and let it cook for another minute or two. I tossed in the rice noodles and let them soften on a simmer for another minute and voila - insta Pho! The best part it you can add any veggies or protein you want - tofu would be a great substitution for the protein and adding something like water chestnuts or sprouts would be a good additional crunch.

I added a tiny bit of soy sauce and a squeeze of lime while it was still in the pot, then I proceeded to top it with fresh cilantro, sriracha and another lime wedge. It.was.perfect.

I never ended up using the Hoisin but kept it as an option

Dahlicious Pho goodness

A second bowl... how could I not??

I am so excited to have found their Dahlicious product and will continue to report out on them if I find new ones!