Instantpot/Pressure Cooker/Multicooker Pho Ga

Sep 14, 2019

2 min read

2 chicken thighs (bone in and defrosted) → ain’t nobody got time to use a whole chicken!
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp chicken bouillon or granulated chicken soup base -- (OR chicken pho flavor cube can be purchased at Asian stores
½ tbs salt and ½ tbs sugar
Very small ginger root -- you only need a corner of it, slice thinly in 2-3 pieces.
Yellow or red onion – cut into half (red onion has more flavor)
2 chopped garlic cloves Chopped green onions and cilantro
1 tbsp vegetable oil Tap water
Meatballs of your choice (chicken, beef, shrimp

Preparation

Set the cooker to saute mode. Add vegetable oil, ginger root, the half-onion and garlic to the pot. Once it starts to simmer, stir around (be careful not to burn the garlic!)
Add the chicken thighs and let it sizzle on both sides for a total of 5 minutes. Add water to the fill line based on the size of your pot.
Add 1 pho flavor cube (if you’re using that), OR 1 tbsp of chicken bouillon and 2 tbsp fish sauce. Add in salt and sugar, close the cooker.
Push soup setting for 2 hours. Let the cooker work its magic! But after an hour, I like to check on it and do a taste test. If it needs more salt etc, I throw it in now so it can boil; + add any meatballs you like now.
ALSO: I remove the chicken thighs to a separate bowl and add in a little more water to fill the pot. Shred the chicken and throw the bones back into the pot. Let the soup finish boiling for the 2nd hour.
Once it’s all done, I throw in some green onions and cilantro for garnish. Add your noodles, bean sprouts, hoisin and Sriracha, pour soup over and ta-da bishhhh.

Everyone’s instant pot/multi-cooker varies in the settings and buttons.
I like this method because the multicooker is powerful enough to really draw out all the flavor from the chicken bones where you will end up not needing much sodium.