Recipe
🍳 BREAKFAST
Phở Gà (Hanoi Chicken Pho)
A clear, star-anise-scented chicken broth over rice noodles, finished with herbs and lime at the table.
Vietnamese · medium · serves 4
prep 20 min · cook 60 min
~565 cal · 49g protein · 66g carbs · 12g fat · 4g fiber · 6g sugars · 3g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Phở gà, chicken pho, is the lighter, elegant cousin of Vietnam's famous beef noodle soup, a clear, golden broth scented with charred ginger, onion, and star anise, ladled over silky rice noodles and poached chicken. Pho itself emerged in early-20th-century northern Vietnam around Hanoi, and the Hanoi style is prized for its restrained, clean-tasting broth.
The magic is in the broth: chicken bones simmered gently for hours with lightly toasted spices, skimmed to crystal clarity, and seasoned with . Unlike the herb-heavy southern style, the northern bowl is finished simply, with , cilantro, maybe a squeeze of lime, letting the broth speak.
Eaten most often for breakfast from streetside stalls in Hanoi's Old Quarter, phở gà is a daily ritual, the steam off the broth pot one of the defining scents of a Hanoi morning.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten-, dairy-, nut-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
4 whole chicken legs
1 yellow onion, halved and charred
3-inch piece fresh ginger, halved and charred
3 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
1 tbsp coriander seeds
6 whole cloves
1 head garlic, halved and charred
1 tbsp salt
1/2 tsp white pepper
3 tbsp
1 tbsp rock sugar (or white sugar)
14 oz flat rice noodles (bánh phở)
a handful , sliced
a handful cilantro, sliced
to serve lime wedges and sliced bird chilies
Instructions
1
Char the onion, ginger, and garlic over an open flame or under the broiler until blackened in spots, then rinse off any loose char.
✎ Chef’s note
Aim for about half the surface blackened: enough for smoke and depth, not so much that the broth turns bitter. Go lighter on the spices than you would for beef pho, since the chicken broth is delicate and easily smothered.
2
Toast the whole spices in a dry pan for a minute until fragrant.
3
Put the chicken (or mushrooms and kombu) in a stockpot and cover with 10 cups water. Add the charred onion and ginger and the toasted spices.
4
Bring to a bare simmer and cook 45 minutes, skimming off any foam and fat that rises.
✎ Chef’s note
Never let pho broth boil hard. A gentle simmer keeps it clear; a rolling boil turns it cloudy.
5
Lift out the chicken and shred the meat off the bones.
6
Strain the broth through a fine sieve and return it to the pot.
7
Season the broth with fish sauce and sugar until it tastes bold, just past comfortable on its own.
8
Soak or cook the noodles per the package, then divide them among bowls with the shredded chicken.
9
Bring the broth back to a boil and ladle it over the noodles and chicken.
10
Top with scallions and cilantro, and serve with lime wedges and sliced chili for each person to finish.
Hanoi old-quarter morning stalls.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Hanoi (Red River Delta). Hanoi, in the Red River Delta, is the home of bún chả and the city that made pho famous, though the soup's birthplace is disputed with Nam Dinh province to the south, whose Van Cu villagers were carrying it to the capital by about 1900. Balanced and less sweet than the south, its cooking prizes clean, clear broths.
🗺️
Vietnam. Vietnamese food is a study in balance and freshness, clean broths like pho, herb-piled rice-paper rolls, and the baguette-born banh mi. Fish sauce, lime, chili, and mountains of fresh herbs create a cuisine that feels both light and deeply savory, often eaten on low plastic stools.
🌍
Asia. Fermentation is the thread that runs the whole way across: soy sauce and miso, Korean doenjang and kimchi, Southeast Asian fish sauces, the soured batter behind an idli. Chilli is the newcomer among them, arriving only after 1500 with Portuguese and Spanish traders, which makes the heat in Sichuan, Thai and Korean cooking far younger than the fermenting underneath it.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Vietnam
Bánh XèoSizzling turmeric-rice crepes stuffed with shrimp, pork, and sprouts, wrapped in lettuce and dunked in nuoc cham.
Bún Bò HuếThe imperial city’s fierce beef-and-lemongrass noodle soup, spiked with chili oil and shrimp paste, bolder than pho.
Bánh MìA crackly baguette stuffed with pâté, pork, pickled daikon-carrot, cilantro, and chili, French bread reborn in Saigon.
Browse all Vietnam recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan.
Storing it: Soup keeps 3 to 4 days refrigerated and freezes well. Reheat gently and loosen with a little water or stock if needed.
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Frequently asked questions
What is Phở Gà (Hanoi Chicken Pho)?
A clear, star-anise-scented chicken broth over rice noodles, finished with herbs and lime at the table.
Where does Phở Gà (Hanoi Chicken Pho) come from?
Phở Gà (Hanoi Chicken Pho) is a Vietnamese dish from Hanoi (Red River Delta), Vietnam.
Can Phở Gà (Hanoi Chicken Pho) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Phở Gà (Hanoi Chicken Pho) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Phở Gà (Hanoi Chicken Pho) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Phở Gà (Hanoi Chicken Pho) take to make?
About 80 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 60 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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