Comfort in A Bowl
Two of my favorite foods on earth are pho and congee. Pho is so savory, aromatic, and clean tasting. Compared to ramen, pho has a lighter taste that makes you feel nourished rather than heavy and lethargic. I also whole heartedly believe that it can cure anything. Headache? A cold? Stomach bug? I guarantee you, a hot bowl of pho will make you feel ten times better. Something about the combination of the noodles, broth, spices, and herbs makes you feel so whole. As for congee, it’s a dish that I grew up eating and crave even to this day. Whenever I was sick, there would always be a hot bowl of congee waiting for me. It was also a go-to, cozy dish to make on a cold winter’s day in New York. I supposed the common denominator between the two, and what I love about them, is that they’re both nourishing and nostalgic comfort meals. So while I love pho and congee individually, I decided to combine them into a single dish: Pho Risotto.
Pho-Nomenal
Funnily enough, my intention for this Pho Risotto wasn’t to combine pho and congee together. I started with the idea of creating a risotto recipe with an Asian Fusion twist. However, we can find so many similarities between foods across different cultures. Risotto is similar to congee in the sense that rice is cooked with a large quantity of liquid for a longer period of time. While the details of techniques and measurements differ, they both result in a thick, creamy, rice dish. When I tasted the final plate, the texture and flavor immediately reminded me of congee. I was hit with the best components of each dish. It had the consistency of risotto, the the heartiness of congee, and flavor of pho. I genuinely felt like I had created the holy trifecta of foods. Even though this Pho Risotto sounds a little crazy, I knew I had to share the recipe with the world!
Ladle, Mix, Repeat
The Arborio rice is first sautéed with green onions and shallots. Then instead of using wine to deglaze the pan and regular broth to cook the risotto, I replaced them with sake and pho broth. Pho broth is obviously not a convenient ingredient to make, so I used Ocean’s Halo’s Pho Broth. This makes the recipe a lot easier, and it still contains all of the flavor and aromatics that homemade pho broth would have!
The general technique to making risotto is cooking the Arborio rice with a portion of liquid and mixing it until most of the liquid has been absorbed. So we’re going to add a few ladles of the pho broth, at a time, to the Arborio rice. Allow the risotto to simmer and stir frequently until most of the broth has been absorbed. Stirring is crucial to risotto because the agitation releases the starch from the Arborio rice, which is what makes the dish creamy. Granted, you also don’t want to overmix. You’re going to repeat this process of adding in a bit of the broth and mixing until the rice is creamy and cooked through.
To finish the dish, we mix in parmesan cheese and fish sauce. These ingredients add another layer of umami flavor and a touch of saltiness. After mixing them in, taste the risotto for seasoning. Season it with salt and white pepper if needed. I also chose to serve this Pho Risotto with a simple ginger poached chicken. Chicken thighs are poached in a ginger and green onion liquid until cooked, then shredded to pieces. The ginger poached chicken adds a bite of protein but is also simple enough to let the Pho Risotto shine.
Top it Off
Everyone has their own way of topping their pho or congee. Some people enjoy adding in sriracha, soy sauce, or hoisin sauce. For this Pho Risotto, I topped it with a drizzle of chili garlic crisp oil and sweet soy sauce. The savory flavor of the chili garlic crisp oil perfectly compliments the subtle sweetness of the sweet soy sauce and adds a delicious, garlicky flavor. Finally, I top it with black and white toasted sesame seeds, sliced green onions, and cilantro leaves.
There you have it, Pho Risotto! This is a delicious and umami recipe if you love pho, congee, or risotto. It’s so flavorful and aromatic from the pho broth and a fun way to switch up a standard risotto recipe. One bite of this dish, and you’ll be in heaven. It has all the best components of each of the three dishes and warms your soul. Let me know what you think of this recipe concept and if you try it out!
Pho Risotto
Ingredients
For the Poached Ginger Chicken:
- 4 cups Water
- 3 Slices of Ginger
- 1 Green Onion (cut into 3 inch pieces)
- 6 Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs
For the Pho Risotto:
- 5 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
- 1 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
- 1 Shallot (finely diced)
- 2 Garlic Cloves (minced)
- 3 Green Onions (sliced, white and green parts separated)
- 1 1/2 cups Arborio Rice
- 1/2 cup Sake
- 6 cups Pho Broth (I used Ocean's Halo)
- 1/3 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
- 1/2 Tbsp Fish Sauce
- Salt and White Pepper (for seasoning)
- As Needed Chili Garlic Crisp Oil
- As Needed Sweet Soy Sauce
- As Needed Cilantro Leaves
- As Needed Black and White Toasted Sesame Seeds
Instructions
For the Poached Ginger Chicken:
- Add the water ginger, and green onion to a pot. Bring the water to a boil. Add in chicken thighs and bring the water back to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium low. Cover the pot and simmer for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the chicken thighs sit, covered, for 15 minutes. Remove the chicken thighs from the pot and set them aside in a bowl. When the chicken thighs are cool enough to handle, shred them into pieces. Set aside.
For the Pho Risotto:
- Pour the pho broth into a sauce pot and heat it over medium heat. Cover and keep warm over low heat while cooking the risotto. Make sure the broth is not bubbling.
- Heat a large pan over medium high heat. Place 1 tablespoon of the unsalted butter and vegetable oil into the pan and allow the butter to melt. Add the shallot to the pan and cook until translucent. Mix in the garlic and white parts of green onion. Cook until fragrant 1 minute.
- Add in the Arborio rice and cook for 3 minutes until lightly browned and toasted. Pour in the sake and cook until it has been absorbed. Add in a few ladles of the warm pho broth and mix frequently until most of the liquid has been absorbed. Lower the heat to medium low heat so that the risotto is gently simmering. Repeat this process, adding in a few ladles of broth and mixing until it's been absorbed, until all of the broth is used or until the rice is cooked and creamy. This will take about 20-30 minutes. Mix in the remaining unsalted butter, parmesan cheese, and fish sauce. Taste for seasoning. Season with salt and white pepper if needed.
- When you're ready to serve, portion the pho risotto onto plates. Top with some of the shredded poached chicken. Drizzle chili garlic crisp oil and sweet soy sauce on top. Garnish with the sliced green parts of the green onion, cilantro leaves, and sesame seeds. Enjoy!
