Vietnamese Style Chicken With Fragrant Rice Noodles Recipes

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a small frying pan on medium heat and gently cook the shallots and garlic until caramelised and golden brown (about 4-5 mins).
• In a large saucepan, add the caramelised shallots and garlic, lemongrass, ginger, star anise, cinnamon stick, coriander seeds, Chinese five-spice, peppercorns, sugar, fish sauce, chicken stock and chicken breasts. Cover with a lid and bring to a very gentle simmer for about 15 mins.
• Meanwhile, cook the noodles, following pack instructions, until just cooked through (do not over-cook). Rinse under cold water to prevent them sticking together. Drain and divide between serving bowls.
• Strain the soup through a sieve. Discard the spices. Shred the chicken and keep to one side. Return soup to the pot and bring to a boil. Season to taste with more fish sauce if needed.
• To serve, ladle piping hot soup into bowls of noodles and chicken, and top with spring onion, carrot, bean sprouts, and herbs, plus the chilli, crispy shallots and kaffir lime leaf if using. Serve with a lime wedge to squeeze over, and more fish sauce and chilli to taste.

Steps:

• Rinse the chicken, place in a large pot with enough cold water to cover and bring to the boil, skimming.
• Add the onions, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, star anise, sugar and salt. Simmer for 30 minutes, remove chicken, carve off breasts, and set aside. Return the chicken to the broth and simmer for a further 30 minutes.
• Strain the broth and finely slice the chicken breast and leg meat. Gently reheat the broth with the fish sauce, and 2 tbsp fried shallots.
• Cover the noodles with hot water, gently separate using chopsticks, and drain.
• Divide the noodles between four deep, warmed soup bowls.
• Arrange the chicken meat on top; ladle the hot broth into each bowl, and scatter with remaining fried shallots, spring onions, bean shoots, chilli, mint, basil and coriander. Guests squeeze lime wedges into broth to taste.