Vegetarian Pho

"A wonderful vegetarian version of this traditional Vietnamese soup. One of my favorites."
 
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photo by May I Have That Rec photo by May I Have That Rec
photo by May I Have That Rec
photo by Anonymous photo by Anonymous
photo by May I Have That Rec photo by May I Have That Rec
photo by May I Have That Rec photo by May I Have That Rec
photo by sweetkaran photo by sweetkaran
Ready In:
10hrs
Ingredients:
18
Serves:
4-6
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ingredients

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directions

  • To make the broth, heat a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion, shallots, garlic, ginger, cinnamon sticks, star anise, and cloves and dry-roast, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables begin to char. Add the stock and soy sauce and bring to a boil over high heat. Turn the heat down to medium-low, cover, and simmer for about 25 minutes. Strain into a clean pot and discard the solids. Taste the broth and add salt if necessary. Keep warm over low heat.
  • While the broth is simmering, prepare the rice noodles. Place the noodles in a large bowl. Pour boiling water over the noodles to cover and soak for 20 minutes.
  • When you are ready to assemble the soup, add the seitan or tofu to the warm broth and allow to heat through. Drain the soaked rice noodles and divide evenly among 4 to 6 large bowls. Using a slotted spoon, scoop the seitan or tofu out of the broth and distribute among the bowls. Ladle the hot broth over the noodles. Serve the bowls of pho with the scallions, bean sprouts, herbs, lime wedges, hoisin sauce and chili sauce on a seperate platter so that everyone can season their own soup as they wish.

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Reviews

  1. I love this as a base recipe, but I made one small change to it. After doubling the recipe size (we really love pho), I actually added a flat of shiitake mushrooms and simmered the soup for the traditional 6-8 hours. Vegetable broth alone isn't enough to replicate the savory flavor of pho, even when combined with the spices. Shiitake is often used by religious vegetarian communities in China and Southeast Asia to replicate a beefy, umami-type flavor in foods, so this is actually a very accurate substitution to make. I used a propane blow torch to scorch my veggies and I tied the spices into a bouquet garni (again, another relatively accurate thing to do, given the French occupation). Other than that, the recipe is amazing. The spices are spot-on perfect. I used to live in Thailand, where we have a similar soup that we just use flat noodles in, and the taste is perfect.
     
  2. Delicious and not too difficult! I added carrots, broccoli, and bok choy. Hoisin, sriracha and lime combo to serve just make it perfect.
     
  3. I made this recipe last night for a dinner party, and I was happy to see that it didn't take 10 hours :). I think it ended up taking about one hour. It was DELICIOUS! Seriously, everyone agreed it tasted exactly like pho you get from a Vietnamese restaurant, and I'm pretty sure everyone had two helpings. It was extra fun because everyone could make their own soup as spicy/flavorful as they liked. I had basil, lime, scallions, bean sprouts, sliced jalapenos, fried tofu, and sriracha as toppings. One suggestion I have would be to soak the noodle directly in the soup when it's finished simmering, so you don't have to dirty another bowl! Enjoy!
     
  4. This made an excellent broth. I forgot to add the soy sauce, but after taste testing, it didn't need it with the broth that I used.
     
  5. Great recipe! I'm not a vegetarian, but I was looking for an authentic-sounding recipe to use as a base. I used beef stock instead of vegetable stock and added thinly-sliced beef. The recipe is perfect, and I'll certainly be making the vegetarian version when I'm not cooking for omnivores.
     
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Tweaks

  1. Great recipe! I'm not a vegetarian, but I was looking for an authentic-sounding recipe to use as a base. I used beef stock instead of vegetable stock and added thinly-sliced beef. The recipe is perfect, and I'll certainly be making the vegetarian version when I'm not cooking for omnivores.
     
  2. I've never had pho, so I don't know how this compares, but I love it! It seems like a weird combination of spices, but it sure is tasty. Next time, I think I'll roast the tofu instead of frying it to cut down on the fat.
     
  3. Great recipe! I've never had pho before because there is never a vegetarian version at restaurants, so I was excited to find this recipe. This tastes really fresh. I followed the recipe fairly closely; the only exception is that I used five spice powder in the broth instead of the individual spices (Chinese 5 spice has cinnamon, star anise, and cloves as 3 of the ingredients, so it seemed like a close approximation). I used seitan and basil, and I added both sriracha and hoisin at the end. Very flavorful! Thanks for posting.
     

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

bok bok, bok bok bok bok.
 
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