Purple Chicken Pho Instant Pot Recipe
Fall has officially arrived in Seattle, which means soup weather! We’ve been making this instant pot chicken pho recipe for a while now and we love eating it on rainy, cold days.
Ingredients
Soup:
5-6 lbs of chicken thighs w/ bone and skin
1 yellow onion, halved
6 oz ginger / 3-4 long slices
water
1/2 cup fish sauce - I prefer the Three Crab brand
1 Tbsp honey
Spices:
1 cinnamon stick
2 tsp fennel seed
2 tsp coriander seed
10 whole star anise
5 bay leaves
Spice bag
Fixings:
2-3 bags rice stick noodles - I prefer the Banh Pho Tuoi brand
1 bag bean sprouts
1 head purple cabbage, thinly sliced <- cabbage, wth? That’s not traditional. I know! I love adding it though because it ups the veggie intake with this dish and delivers a nice crunch.
1 pack of fresh basil
2-3 jalapenos, sliced
2 limes, quartered
1 bunch of green onion, chopped
Optional for me: sriracha, sambal, hoisin sauce, black pepper, cilantro
Instructions:
Before and after roasting/charring process
1. Cut the onion in half and roast it over an open flame to get a char
2. Toast the spices in a pan until fragrant. May want to add bay leaves last because they tend to burn quickly. Do not over toast the spices, because then it may impart a bitter burnt flavor.
3. Roast the ginger on an open flame to get a char (or sometimes I’m lazy and I’ll just roast it in the pan until it’s fragrant).
4. Add spices to the spice bag. Tie it up.
5. Add the chicken thighs to the inner stainless steel pot, skin side up.
6. Add roasted onion, ginger, and spice bag to the pot.
7. Fill pot with water until the max line.
8. Make sure top vent of IP is sealed. Set IP to high pressure for 40 min. Press start to cook.
9. While the soup is cooking, I’ll prep all the fixings. Rinse bean sprouts, cabbage, basil, jalapenos, limes, and green onion. Slice the jalapenos. Cut the limes into quarters. Chop the green onions. Thinly slice the cabbage.
10. I start boiling a pot of water about 10 min. before the IP is done cooking. Blanch the purple cabbage, this will make the water purple! Then use that same water to cook your pho noodles later and it’ll turn your noodles purple!
11. Vent pressure when it’s done cooking. (I place my IP outside my porch so it doesn’t get too messy on my counter. You can also opt to put a cloth over the vent if you do it inside your house to prevent it splashing everywhere, but then the venting process is slower.)
12. Add fish sauce and honey to the soup and stir.
13. Cook the pho noodles in the purple water for 3-5 seconds. I prefer my noodles al dente, so I tend to cook them for 3 seconds. Since the soup is hot, it’ll cook the noodles a little further after you serve them together.
14. Serve with fixings! Add bean sprouts, cabbage, green onion, basil leaves, and jalapeno. Squeeze some lime juice in it and you’re good to go!
15. Feel free to crack some fresh black pepper over your pho. You can also enjoy it with sriracha, sambal, or hoisin sauce.
I hope you enjoy my take on chicken pho! Let me know if you try it!
Purple Chicken Pho