Vegetarian Rice Noodles Soup (Pho)

Traditionally, Vietnamese Pho is made with chicken or beef. It is fair to say that the deep amber broth from the beef or chicken bones with the fragrance of spices infused in the broth makes Pho the best food in international magazines. However, for the vegan world, Pho can be made with similar effects if the broth is carefully made with healthy root vegetables, such as chayote, turnip, squash, daikon, etc... When making soup, the broth is the main point that makes or breaks the recipe. For that, I always prepare my broth with the utmost important step to insure the best outcome of my soup. Throughout my blog, I posted the recipes for making vegetable broth and also meat broth. For quickly made soup, if the broth is available, soup can be prepared in no time. Vegetarianism had been confined mainly to Asian societies, to Buddhist temples, and the devoted Vietnamese-Thai-Chinese population. Vegetarianism has been and essential Buddhist precept for many decades. Now, vegetarianism has become more and more popular to promote healthy eating habits. I am happy to share the vegan Pho recipe that has been my family’s recipe since I was a baby. My mom made vegan pho for the temples of the Buddhist celebrations in her homeland which is Vietnam, and, later on, when she resided in America. My mom now is 88 years old and has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. I do not think she remembers all of her good times. Therefore, I make vegan pho every week to remember the good time when mom was in the Quang Minh Temple’s kitchen preparing vegan pho for thousands of Buddha’s followers.

Ingredients:
For the vegetables broth:
1 piece of kombu
1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into chunks
3 celery stalks, cut into large chunks
2 carrots peeled and cut into chunks
1 onion, peeled and cut into chunks
1/2 daikon, peeled and cut into chunks
1 chayote, peeled, seeds removed, and chopped
1 piece Kopacha pumpkin, peeled and cut into chunks
1/2 Asian squash peeled and cut into chunks
1/2 jicama, peeled and cut
1 Fuji apple, cut
1 piece of white cabbage
A few dried shitake mushrooms
2 oz. rock sugar and salt to taste

To make the broth:
Toss everything except the salt into an 8 quart pot filled with water to just cover the vegetables. Bring to the boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 40 minutes to 1 hour. Turn of the heat and let the vegetables steep in the broth until cool off. Strain the stock over a large container or bowl and season with salt. Now these are the basics of the vegetables broth. For the vegan Pho, I use 12 cups of the broth and transfer the remaining broth into containers to freeze for future use.

To make the Pho broth:
1 onion
1 about 5 inch of fresh ginger, unpeeled
5 shallots, unpeeled
Spice bag ingredients
5 Star Anise
5 whole cloves
1 stick cinnamon, 2 inch length
1 tsp fennel seeds
2 tsp coriander seeds
2 cadamom seeds three

Accompaniments:
1 lbs fresh or dried rice noodles
One 8 oz. tofu, cut into chunks and fried
3 dried bean curd sticks, soaked in water for 1 hour and fried
1 leek, the white part, thinly sliced
1/2 lbs of combination of fresh mushrooms:
Oyster, king oyster, porcini, etc., your choice
½ lb. bean sprouts
Lemon, Thai chili, fresh herbs, basil, mint, and cilantro

Directions:
White the broth is cooking, place ginger, shallots and onion in a baking dish and bake in oven set to 350° for 30 minutes or until they are charred but not cooked. Remove and peeled off the burnt skin and set aside.

In a frying pan, dry fry the spice bag ingredients until fragrant about 2 to 3 minutes. Place into a tea bag or cheese cloth.

In a stock pot, add about 12 cups of vegetable broth and bring to boil. Add the charred onion, shallots  ginger, and spice bag ingredients (I like to add a handful of green onions and cilantro, but you can skip it). Bring the stock to gentle boil and let it cook for 45 minutes. Remove everything and now the Pho is ready.

 

While the Pho is cooking, place a sauté pan over high heat with 2 tbs oil. Add leek. Stir and cook until fragrant.

Stir in fried tofu, and all mushrooms. Sauté and season with soy sauce, salt, sugar, and black pepper. Cook until the mushrooms are tender.
To Serve:
Bring a pot of water to boil. Place a handful of noodles in a sieve with a handle and lower into the boiling water. If using fresh noodles, it takes a few seconds. Remove the sieve and shake a little to drain off some of the water. For each serving, you have to do this part each time.

Place cooked noodles into bottom of a serving bowl. Top with tofu, bean curd stick, and some mushrooms. Ladle a generous amount of boiling broth over. Sprinkle with chopped green onion and cilantro. Serve with bean sprouts, lime and fresh herbs.