109 Reviews of Cheat n' Eat Vietnamese Chicken Soup

From: Bergy

On May 18, 2002

What a great, special soup! It'seasy and ever so tasty. I love hot 'n spicy and this hits the spot. The only thing I changed was the peanut oil I used chili oil (use what's on hand) Thank's SueL I'll be trying more of your recipes

From: canarygirl

On Oct 30, 2002

Can I only give this 5 stars?? This was so fast and easy to put together, and the flavor was FANTASTIC! I threw in a few bean sprouts at the end, and served it with sriracha sauce. The balance of flavors in this soup is incredible. I have long been afraid to make pho (or lazy, I dunno), and now I have absolutely no reason to go through the trouble! Thank you Sue, for another absolutely wonderful recipe!

From: ChrisMc

On Jul 7, 2002

Great quick soup - I made this for a family dinner, and everyone loved it. Just the right amount of heat (as my mom put it, "Food that bites back a little"). Adding the herbs really changes the tenor of the soup and makes it a soup with a lot of flavor, and not just heat. If you're making this in advance, try steamed rice instead of the noodles - they won't absorb quite as much liquid. Thanks for the recipe!

From: Nolita_Food

On Mar 12, 2004

I'm a Hanoian myself, and I assure you, actually this is one of our daily life noodles. We rarely make the complicated "pho" at home, but make this kin dof noodle instead. It's called "mien ga" for chicken cellophane noodle, or just "mien" for cellophane noodle soup. Taste amazing with bambooshoot as well, but you have to soak the bambooshoot for some time.

From: Miss Annie

On May 28, 2002

Sue, this was indeed and good soup. Easy to prepare, and easier to eat. I did use the peanut oil, and used some pretty hot pepper flakes. It was just right for us, we loved it! Definately will be doing this one again. Thanks for posting.

From: riffraff

On Jan 13, 2003

Very close to the real thing. In fact I like it better. Just to prove how versitile this recipe is here's how it came down the last time I made it. I used turkey stock plus 2 cups of water and 2 tablespoons of chicken stock base and the fish sauce. I did not add any meat, just chinese cabbage, the noodles and cilantro at the end. GREAT flavor. We will eat this many more times.

From: blakesle

On Jun 4, 2002

I have been longing for Pho but never had the time or ingredients to make. This soup was heaven..fragrant..light and flavorful.. just a I remember it. Thank you.... thankyou..now on my best of soup list.. To the uninitiated..try this soup...wonderful Catherine

From: Julesong

On Jun 5, 2002

Loved it, SueL, and it helped out my head cold, too. I added a bunch more basil (because I love the stuff and I had a lot of fresh to use anyhow). Yum!

From: Roosie

On Jan 10, 2005

Quick as a wink to make, and gone just as fast! I've never had pho before, so I can't judge on that, but this is goooooood! I didn't have the green onions on hand (they're rather pitiful and pricey in the dead of winter), so we just added a bit of shallot with the garlic and ginger. I used more than 1 ounce noodles- my package says it is 16 ounces and I used half (so that would be 8 oz) and ended up with only a little leftover. Just based on my noodles, I would say that that seems like a very small quanity of noodles... Anyhow, followed the rest of the recipe- I used homemade broth, 1 breast and a little more pepper flakes than called for. My broth was unsalted and I found this plenty salty from the addition of the fish sauce, so be careful! I didn't have any sriracha or chile paste, but since I added a little extra pepper flakes, we found this plenty spicey. We did add a dash of organic shoyu to our bowls, though. We also added a couple sliced mushrooms, which were really yummy. I think this would really be great if you added other veggies too- straw mushrooms, baby corn and bamboo shoots immediately came to mind. The flavor was great, and I think the garnish really adds a lot. I wish I'd had the green onion, but this was so easy and tasty that I'm sure I'll make it again! Thanks Sue, for another winner. I highly recommend this to anyone and everyone! A real keeper.

From: Michaelk69

On Apr 8, 2009

hi - sorry - me again! Just made this again, and wanted to say that I added some bok choy (the stems for the last three minutes of chicken-cooking time) and then the dark green leaves at the last minute. I also added some julienne red pepper strips when I cooked the chicken, garlic, ginger etc . .. anyway, i think that made this soup even better, so wanted to share! Oh, and one other thing - no one else mention it, so it may just be me, but i find this soup very salty - it might be the fish sauce or the stock i am using? I don't know! But definitely do NOT add any salt to this without tasting it first . . . having said all that, still five-stars from me, really REALLY good . ..