Step 1. Make the chicken stock

• Cut the chicken into large pieces. Do you use a whole chicken? Then remove the butt, chop the chicken in half and clean the inside. Soak the chicken in hot water for 10 minutes. Then rinse it off with cold water.

• Bring a large pan of water to the boil (approx. 6 liters). Add the chicken or chicken thighs and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes. Check occasionally whether there is a lot of foam on the water and remove it.

• After 30 minutes of cooking, add the chicken stock cubes and sugar. Leave on low heat for another 45 minutes. In the meantime, continue to the other steps.

• After the stock has risen for a total of 1 hour and 15 minutes, turn off the heat and let it stand for a while with the lid on the pan.

• Remove the chicken from the pan and pull it apart with two forks into smaller pieces of chicken.

Step 2. Make the Hanh Chua, the sorrel (optional)

• Cut the onion into half rings.

• Add the yellow vinegar, water and sugar and let it sit for at least 1 hour. The sorrel should ultimately not be sweet, but sour.

Step 3. Prepare the ginger and onion

• Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.

• Clean the onion and ginger but leave the skin on. Cover a baking tray with half the onions and the pieces of ginger and roast it in the oven for 20 minutes. Halfway through, add the star anise and cinnamon.

• Cut the tops of the onion and remove the outer layer and mash the ginger with a large knife. Add it to the chicken stock together with the star anise and cinnamon.

• Let everything simmer for a while and add salt to taste if necessary. The broth should be slightly on the salty side. When you add the noodles it becomes less salty.

Step 4. Serve the pho ga

• Place the noodles on a plate and pour the soup over them.

• Finally, add the chicken, bean sprouts, the juice of 1 lime, fresh herbs, spring onion, and red pepper. Add a dash of fish sauce if desired. Garnish with a lime wedge.