Pho Ga

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken, about 1.8kg
• 1kg chicken wings and backs
• 4 litres cold water
• 2 large onions, halved
• 80g ginger, halved lengthways
• 3 star anise
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 tsp coriander seeds
• 3 cloves
• 50g rock sugar
• 60ml fish sauce
• 1 tbsp salt
• 600g dried flat rice noodles
• 6 spring onions, thinly sliced
• 1 onion, sliced paper-thin and soaked in cold water
• Coriander, Thai basil, beansprouts, lime wedges and chillies, to serve

Before you cook

• Soak the whole chicken and the extra bones in cold salted water for 30 minutes, then rinse them thoroughly
• Halve the onions and the ginger and char the cut faces directly over a flame or in a dry pan until blackened in patches
• Toast the star anise, cinnamon, coriander seeds and cloves in a dry pan for 2 minutes, then tie them into a piece of muslin
• Slice one onion paper-thin and soak the slices in cold water to take the bite out
• Wash the herbs and arrange them on a platter with the beansprouts and lime

Steps

1. Put the extra wings and bones in a large pot, cover with cold water and bring to a boil for five minutes.
2. Drain the bones, rinse them clean and scrub the pot.
3. Return the bones to the clean pot with the whole chicken and pour over the four litres of cold water.
4. Bring the pot slowly to a bare simmer over medium-low heat, which should take about thirty minutes.
5. Skim every trace of grey foam from the surface as it rises.
6. Add the charred onion and ginger, the spice bundle and the tablespoon of salt.
7. Poach the whole chicken for forty-five minutes at a temperature where only a few bubbles break the surface.
8. Lift the whole chicken out and plunge it into a bowl of iced water for ten minutes to firm and tighten the skin.
9. Keep the bones simmering gently for another two hours, never letting the broth boil.
10. Strain the broth through a fine sieve into a clean pot and discard the solids.
11. Season the broth with the fish sauce and rock sugar, then taste and add more fish sauce until it is clean and savoury rather than salty.
12. Pull the cooled chicken off the bone and tear the meat into bite-sized strips.
13. Cook the rice noodles in boiling water until just tender, about six minutes, then drain them.
14. Divide the noodles between six bowls and lay the torn chicken over the top.
15. Add the sliced spring onion and drained raw onion to each bowl.
16. Ladle the broth over at a rolling boil so it heats everything through.
17. Serve at once with the herb platter so everyone can add beansprouts, basil, lime and chilli to their own bowl.