Recipe: Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup

Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup
rec.food.recipes/Robin Nguyen/1997

This is my quick and easy way to prepare this dish. You can find all of the seasonings, toppings and rice noodles in most Asian groceries.

1 whole Chicken (about 3 lbs. with or without skin)
1 large onion
2 carrots
2 celery stalks
1 teaspoon of coriander seeds
3 aniseed (star shaped pods)
1/2 teaspoon of whole black pepper
1 stick of cinnamon (about 3" long)
1 small piece of ginger (size of a teaspoon, smashed once lightly)
2 cans chicken stock
salt to taste
1 tablespoon of sugar
Oriental rice noodles
Vietnamese fish sauce to taste

Toppings:
1/4 large onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup chopped scallions
1/2 cup chopped parsley (not Italian parsley)
1/2 cup chopped basil leaves
2 cups bean sprouts
1 large lime
dash of pepper
freshly sliced jalapeno peppers (optional)
chili paste (optional)

Clean and put chicken in a large stock pot and add water to cover the whole chicken. Bring to a boil removing scums at top. Add whole onion, carrots and celery and continue cooking for 1 hour at medium heat until chicken is fully cooked.

Pour stock through strainer and remove breast meat and any other part of the chicken you would like at this time.

Place coriander seeds, whole black pepper and anise seeds in a teaball or a seasoning bag and drop it into the strained chicken stock. Add cinnamon stick, piece of ginger, and 2 cans of chicken stock and cook for about 20 minutes more.

Remove flavor pack, cinnamon stick, and ginger. Add sugar, salt and/or fish sauce to taste. When serving, bring pot to a boil.

Cook the rice noodle as you would of pasta. Quickly rinse with hot water to remove starch when it is done. Place about a cup of it in a deep bowl,

Layer with some cooked chicken and add a teaspoon of scallions and parsley, each. Add a couple of slices of onion on top of that. Ladle enough broth to fully cover the toppings.

Toppings:
Add basil leaves, bean sprout, chili peppers (optional), a squeeze of lime and a dash of black pepper when ready to eat.

Note: I apologize for the vague fluid measurements. The soup usually tastes better if made a day in advance although, the overly cooked chicken may not taste so good overnight... I usually cook a fresh batch of chicken breast to serve with the soup on the second day.