Instant Pot: Paleo Chicken Pho

I’ve been long overdue for a blog post. The impetus for this one is mostly due to four long months where candy has become my major food group. After this dark period of gastronomy in my life, I felt like I had to make changes to help me feel less sluggish and dependant on sugar.

The main problem I’ve always had for choosing a paleo diet is my weakness for the nood. Give me any well-cooked noodle or pasta and I’m in a happy place. That being said, I have yet to find a paleo friendly noodle that is worth eating. Chickpea flour stuff is brittle and dry. Performing a quick search on Pinterest I found this recipe from The Sophisticated Caveman for chicken pho that looks quite tasty. I edited the ingredients and timing a bit based on what I had but essentially it’s very similar. Using of daikon as the noodle is just heavenly because I love daikon in any soups for its subtle sweetness.

Ingredients

  • 4 lbs chicken legs bone-in and skin on
  • 2 medium onions quartered
  • 1-inch ginger peeled and smashed
  • 1 tablespoon coriander seed
  • 2 black cardamom pods
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • 1 lemongrass stalk trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
  • 1/4 cup fish sauce
  • 1 cup fresh cilantro
  • 1 head bok choy roughly chopped
  • 1 large daikon root spiralized
  • sea salt to taste

Tools You’ll Need

For Garnish

  • lime wedges
  • fresh basil
  • mung bean sprouts
  • 1/4 onion thinly sliced

Instructions

  • Toast the coriander seeds in a dry skillet. Make sure to keep this on medium-low heat until they turn a fragrant golden brown color. They burn super easily so make sure to watch this pretty carefully.
  • Rinse the chicken pieces and add them to the pressure cooker. I didn’t do this but add the dry spices to a spice pouch (this makes it MUCH easier for cleaning and soup straining), cilantro, onion, lemon grass, and fish sauce. Pour in cold water to the max line.
  • Cover the pressure cooker and lock the lid. Set the timer for 35 minutes on high pressure.
  • After the timer goes off, release the pressure and carefully open the lid. Remove the chicken pieces and shred once cool.
  • Remove spice packet squeeze the liquid out of it with the ladle being careful not to burn yourself on the soup. Remove oil from the surface of the soup. Taste and add sea salt. Bring the soup to a simmer and cook the spiralized daikon for 5-6 minutes until tender.
  • Divide the noodles and shredded chicken into bowls and ladle in the broth. Serve with the garnishes and enjoy!

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