Homemade Vegan Pho (Vietnamese Noodle Soup)
- Prep 15 minutes
- Cook 50 minutes
- Total 5 minutes
Homemade Vegan Pho (Vietnamese Noodle Soup) is a soup recipe on Avoteb. Plan on 5 minutes from start to plate. The amounts and the method are both on this page.
Ingredients
- 1 large white onion, peeled and halved
- 3- inch piece of fresh ginger, halved lengthwise
- 5 star anise
- 4 whole cloves
- 3 (3-inch) cinnamon sticks
- 2 cardamom pods
- 1 tablespoon whole coriander seeds
- 8 cups good-quality vegetable stock (or mushroom stock*)
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce or tamari
- 2 teaspoons rice vinegar
- fine sea salt, to taste
- 7 ounces uncooked thin rice noodles
- 1 tablespoon olive oil (or any neutral-flavored oil)
- 8 ounces shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced
- 2 heads baby bok choy, halved
- optional: 1-2 cups extra veggies (such as sliced carrots, broccoli florets, snow peas, etc.)
Method
Char the onions and ginger. Turn the oven broiler to high, and place the baking rack about 8 inches away from the heating elements. Set the onion and ginger cut-side-up on a baking sheet, and brush with a bit of oil. Broil for about 7-10 minutes, until the tops of the onion and ginger are slightly charred. Lift and keep nearby.
Prep the noodles. While that cooks, as your broth is simmering, cook the noodles separately al dente according to the package instructions. Tip off in a strainer, then briefly rinse the noodles with cold water to prevent them from continuing to cook. (the cook also recommend tossing the noodles with a drizzle of oil — such as sesame oil — to prevent them from sticking.)
Make the broth. While that cooks, heat the anise, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom and coriander to a large stock pot over medium-a hot burner for about 3 minutes until fragrant. Tip in in the charred onion, ginger, stock, and stir to combine. Continue cooking until the broth reaches a let it bubble gently. Then reduce heat to medium-low, cover with a lid, and continue to let it bubble gently for at least 30 minutes. Strain out (and discard) the onions, ginger and spices. Whisk the brown sugar, soy sauce and rice vinegar into the hot broth. T
Leave the veggies. While that cooks, heat the oil in a sauté pan over medium-a hot burner. Tip in the sliced mushrooms and sauté for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until cooked through and lightly golden. Lift from heat. Then 5 minutes before you are ready to serve the soup, stir the mushrooms, bok choy and veggies into the hot broth so that they can briefly cook.
Assemble. And now...the fun part! Tip in a handful of noodles to each individual serving bowl. Ladle the hot broth and veggies into the serving bowls. Top each bowl with lots and lots of garnishes, and finish with a generous squeeze of lime juice.
Plate while it is hot. Encouraging everyone to stir the garnishes into the soup so that they can flavor the broth, also adding in additional extra sauces if desired.
Kitchen notes
- Alternate mushroom option: If you would like to skip sautéing the mushrooms on the side, you are welcome to cook them directly in the simmering broth itself. They need at least 10 minutes to cook, although the longer they let it bubble gently in there, the more satisfying your broth will be.
- Alternate charring option: Instead of broiling the onion and ginger in the oven, you can also just cook them cut-side-down in a sauté pan over a hot burner until charred.
- Double batch: Again, the cook highly recommend making a double batch of this recipe while you’re at it! To do so, you will need a large stockpot (at least 5 quarts) to handle the quantity of broth.
