Chicken Noodle Soup (with a twist)

Chicken noodle soup. It’s a classic American comfort food. You got your chicken, your veggies (carrots, onions, and celery) and of course the egg noodles. Growing up in a Chinese/Vietnamese American household though, instead of chicken noodle soup, one of my favorite comfort foods was Pho. Pho (prounounced “fuh”) is a vietnamese noodle soup. There are a bunch of different variations of it, the most typical using thin sliced rare steak.  But there are also versions using chicken, seafood, beef meatballs, tripe, and many more. Pho is amazing to warm you up in the dead of winter but I could also down an extra large bowl of the soupy rice noodles on the hottest summer days. The broth is super savory and aromatic due to the wealth of herbs and spices like ginger, star anise, cardamom, cinnamon, and coriander, just to name a few. But it’s notoriously laborious to make and ingredients can be difficult to find if you don’t live in Asia or a big city. The closest Asian grocery store where I live is about an hour away, so I’ve had to learn to improvise with ingredients I can find locally or online. Also as a mom of two, I typically want my dinner recipes to be easy and relatively quick to throw together. 

So with that in mind, here is my Franken-chicken noodle soup – a mix of a classic American chicken noodle soup and vietnamese Pho Ga (Chicken Pho).

Why include carrots and celery?

Traditional pho is eaten with lots of fresh, raw veggies like bean sprouts, mint, and thai basil which may be difficult to find in American grocery stores and also don’t tend to keep fresh for very long in the fridge. Carrots and celery recall the classic American chicken noodle soup while adding in those much needed veggies for a balanced dinner. 

If you live somewhere with limited access to Asian grocery items, some of the ingredients listed may be difficult to obtain. Below I’ve included some links for where you can find these items online.

I’ve also used grocery delivery services to find some asian recipe staples as well. Weee is a grocery delivery app for asian groceries that I’ve come to rely on for certain asian grocery items that I can’t find nearby. 

Ingredients:

Store-bought Rotisserie Chicken

Onion

Garlic

Ginger

Fish sauce

Sugar

Shredded Carrots

Celery – sliced thin

Whole Cloves

Whole Star Anise

Noodles of your choice (ramen, udon, egg noodles, vermicelli, etc.)

Instructions:

1. Break down rotisserie chicken
   1. You probably won’t eat all of the chicken, but I always like to save the rest of the meat for sandwiches, chicken salad, green salad topping, etc. for easy lunches for the rest of the week! 
   2. Easiest way is to use your hands. Then, even if you’re not a professional chef who knows all the different parts of how to properly break down a chicken, you can simply feel with your hands where all the bones vs. meat are. Plus, you’re not breaking this down to look pretty on a serving platter. This is just what i find to be the fastest way – ripping it all apart with your bare hands.
   3. Keep the bones! This is going to add more flavor to your broth.
2. Take all bones and place in a large pot. Fill pot with water or your favorite store-bought chicken broth for even more chicken flavor.
3. Cut onion into four large chunks. 
4. Peel garlic and ginger. Give garlic a light smash but otherwise leave whole. Cut ginger into several large chunks and give each a light smash with the flat side of your knife.
5. Add aromatics (onion, garlic, ginger) to the pot with chicken bones.
6. Add spices (Cloves and star anise) – I like to make a makeshift spice bag by grabbing a coffee filter and some kitchen twine. Place whole spices in the middle of the coffee filter, then bunch it up and twist and tie off with twine. You can also use cheese cloth or a tea infuser. If you have none of these things, just throw the spices in and use a slotted spoon to scoop it all out later.  Let chicken bones, aromatics, and spices simmer for ______.
7. While the soup is simmering, dice carrots. I like to just buy the shredded carrots at the store. I find it incorporates better to a noodle soup.
8. Thinly slice celery on a bias. I like the thin slice because it cooks quick and also easier to grab with chopsticks.
9. Use tongs and/or slotted spoon to scoop out all the chicken bones, aromatics, and spices from the soup. Add in carrots and celery and let simmer for _____ until veggies are soft.
10. While carrots and celery are cooking, cook noodles according to package instructions. I personally love udon noodles if you can find them. Hard to find in my area but found the Trader Joe’s Thai wheat noodles a pretty good alternative.
11. Serve. Add noodles and rotisserie chicken pieces to the bowl. Pour hot broth with carrots and celery on top. Serve with a squeeze of lime if desired.

I like to cook noodles separately and add while serving since noodles tend to get too bloated and soft if sitting in the broth if you have leftovers. Best to store noodles and broth separately.

Make ahead.

You can make the broth ahead of time up to step 9 and freeze or refrigerate. Then on the day you want to make this recipe, add in celery and carrots, cook noodles separately and add the rotisserie chicken on top. Pour hot broth on top.