PHO NO? PHO YES!
So I bought myself an early Christmas present this year, it was an Instant Pot. My busy schedule, the incessant eating out due to lack of planning and the overall quality of our meals had me checking out Nom Nom Paleo's site (this is not paid or endorsed by Nom Nom Paleo) for her awesome instant pot recipes. While perusing, shortly after purchase I came upon Chicken Pho...
Now, I have never tried Pho, never had Vietnamese food at all, nor had I ever tried anything like it. I do love Oh Mai! A Vietnamese restaurant in Salt Lake but I'm not sure how authentic it is and I have never tried the Pho, I actually like the Bahn Mi's and don't usually order anything else.
Anyway I thought for my first NomNom Paleo recipe I would tackle PHO... WTPHO was I thinking???
Apparently I was caught up in my joyous purchase and my intermediate cooking skills and thought "Oh hell yeah, I am a rockstar, I can totally cook Pho."
So here's how it went....
I gathered all my supplies and groceries from Michelles comprehensive list (you really are quite thorough Michelle, thank you for that!).
I read all the directions, at least three times!
And then I went to work...
First I prepped all my onion, apple, and ginger... her recipe called for bruised ginger so I googled how to bruise ginger.... Basically you kill it with a mallet or you can see the google results here.
Ok, a bit of a hang up because I had to google how to bruise ginger but I was still on track and ready to cook.
I measured out my coriander, threw in the whole cloves and set my Instant Pot to sauté. Wa-la! Ummmmm..... hmmmmm.... not crazy about the smell of coriander and cloves (I'm pretty sensitive to smells and this is VERY aromatic).
I toss in my onions and ginger to brown.
I added the water and then realized I hadn't taken the guts out of the chicken. Now Michelle doesn't exactly say to remove the guts BUT I assumed she thinks we are all adults who have cooked chicken before... just in case you're an amateur or just forget little details sometimes I'm adding a pic... TAKE OUT THE GUTS!!!
Because, really, who likes guts in their food? Actually I think a lot of people use them for flavor but I am not one of them.
Anyway.... you know, just for good measure....
After that I added the chicken to the water and topped with cilantro and apples...
I threw in the cilantro, salt, and topped off with water. Switched the valve to closed and set the machine then I started to work.... more (wasn't this whole thing supposed to be easier?).
I chopped toppings and soaked noodles... did you know noodles have to soak? Apparently it isolates the starch so they don't get so goopy... I know, right?! Well the bag told me to use the soaked noodles but I had to google that also.
While I kept traditional noodles for my family, I put my daughter on making ZOODLES (they tasted way better but that could've been cook error... IJS). Michelle has a super cool spiralizer that she talks about on the recipe... I do not have one and cannot see buying one (I'm trying to get rid of stuff, not collect more stuff) so I just use this little Ikea julliener... It doesn't make them long and curly so not nearly as pretty as Nom Nom Paleo's but it works...
Then beep, beep, beep.... the chicken was done!
I tried to add this fish sauce but I opened it, took one sniff, and thought WTPHO?! NO WAY.... I also decided to add avocado because, well, avocado.!
And WALA! Below is my beautiful bowl of PHO.
Honestly, I am not a fan of the taste. I will say this, this recipe is a very light broth and easy to eat. I just am not a fan of the coriander and clove, maybe the fish sauce would've made it better... though I highly doubt it.
It was actually pretty easy but a little intensive for a Monday (even though it was New Years day so all I really had to do was nurse a hangover and cook ONE meal but whatevs, don't judge me!).
So this is a big fat PHO-NUH(no) for me...
Next time I am trying Salsa Chicken! Should I be worried that she repeatedly states she isn't a fan of boneless skinless chicken breast in the instant pot?
Love and light!
~Jes
