Dinner · 75 min · vietnamese

Pho Ga

This is the kind of Vietnamese dinner you’ll make on repeat — whole chicken and chicken wings, 75 minutes, big payoff. The macros do the talking: 98g protein, 58g carbs, and 21g fat in every 818-calorie serving. No specialty equipment and nothing hard to find at a regular grocery store.

✓ USDA-verified nutrition data

Ingredients

• 3.5 lb Whole chicken
• 1 lb Chicken wings
• 1 Yellow onion
• 1 3-inch piece Fresh ginger
• 3 Star anise
• 1 Cinnamon stick
• 4 Whole cloves
• 2 tsp Coriander seeds
• 1/3 cup Fish sauce
• 1.5 tbsp Rock sugar
• 12 oz Flat rice noodles
• 5 Scallions
• 1/2 cup Cilantro
• 2 cups Bean sprouts
• 1 Lime
• 1/2 bunch Thai basil

Steps

1. Char the halved onion and ginger in a dry pan until blackened at the edges, about 7 minutes. Chicken broth is milder than beef, so this charred sweetness carries more of the flavor here.
2. Place the chicken and wings in a tall pot, cover with 4 quarts of cold water, and bring up slowly. The moment it simmers, lower the heat so the surface barely trembles. A boiling pho ga turns cloudy and greasy.
3. Skim diligently for the first 20 minutes, then add the charred aromatics and the toasted spices tied in cheesecloth.
4. After 45 minutes, lift out the whole chicken and rest it 10 minutes before shredding the meat by hand. Return the carcass to the pot for 15 more minutes of simmering while you work.
5. Strain the broth and season with fish sauce and rock sugar until it tastes bright and savory, with the spice sitting quietly in the background rather than leading.
6. Cook the noodles, divide among bowls with a generous tangle of shredded chicken, and ladle over the steaming broth.
7. Finish each bowl with scallions and cilantro, and pass sprouts, basil, and lime at the table. The broth should taste clean enough to drink on its own.

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