Vegetarian Pho or Vietnamese Noodle Soup is sort of like a salad with broth poured over it. Actually, it is salad with broth poured over it!
I don’t gravitate towards fresh vegetables in the winter. My body craves homemade bread, pasta, stews cooked for days; everything and anything soft and comforting. The downside to all this happy food is my energy is taken up trying to digest it. Vegetarian Pho gives me the warmth and satisfaction of a homey soup with the added value of fresh, just cooked vegetables. After slurping down a huge bowl, I can leap tall buildings.
The most important element in making pho is the broth. You make a bad broth and you’ve got a bowl of undercooked veggies swimming in swill. I did a post, a couple of years ago, on the famous Momofuko broth. It was fantastic, but it took seven hours.
The broth for this soup only takes one hour. I cheated with a commercial vegetable stock. Just the same, with the additional ingredients, despite the short cook time, the flavour is off-the-charts, she says humbly. I let the broth simmer while I set up my camera gear. When I noticed that the aroma was making me drool, I knew I had nailed it.
If you don’t have time to make your own broth, Campbell’s has an excellent commercial Pho Broth
VEGETARIAN PHO – VIETNAMESE NOODLE SOUP
Broth
- 8 cups vegetable broth
- 2 large yellow onions, peeled and sliced
- ½ cup dried wild mushrooms
- 5 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 6 ¼-inch-thick slices fresh ginger
- 1 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 6 fresh basil stems, save the leaves for your soup
- 6 cilantro stems, save the leaves for your soup
THE STEPS:
- Place all ingredients in large pot.
- Bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 1 hour.
- Strain broth, discard solids.
- Return broth to pot and bring back up to the boil just before you pour it into serving bowls.
Pho
- 1 8-ounce package rice vermicelli noodles
- 2 cups shredded carrot
- 6 ruby-red radish, sliced thin
- 2 cups enoki mushrooms
- 4 green onions, sliced
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
- 1 cup fresh basil leaves
- 1 lime, cut into wedges
THE STEPS:
- Cook rice noodles according to manufacturer’s instructions.
- Drain, and rinse under cold water.
- Divide noodles, spinach, carrots, green onion, mushrooms and radish slices among 6 large soup bowls.
- Ladle boiling broth over top.
- Serve cilantro, basil, and lime wedges on the side to be stirred into soup.
THE LOVE: The beautiful thing about VEGETARIAN PHO is as long as you nail the broth you can use any and all combinations of vegetables and herbs.
Thanks for reading.
Ingredients
BROTH
8 cups vegetable broth
2 large yellow onions, peeled and sliced
½ cup dried wild mushrooms
5 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
3 tablespoons soy sauce
6 ¼-inch-thick slices fresh ginger
1 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
PHO
1 8-ounce package rice vermicelli noodles
2 cups shredded carrot
6 ruby-red radish, sliced thin
2 cups enoki mushrooms
4 green onions, sliced
¼ cup chopped cilantro
1 cup fresh basil leaves
1 lime, cut into wedges
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
6 fresh basil stems, save the leaves for your soup
6 cilantro stems, save the leaves for your soup
Instructions
BROTH
- Place all ingredients in large pot.
- Bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 1 hour.
- Strain broth, discard solids.
- Return broth to pot and bring back up to the boil just before you pour it into serving bowls.
PHO
- Cook rice noodles according to manufacturer's instructions.
- Drain, and rinse under cold water.
- Divide noodles, spinach, carrots, green onion, mushrooms and radish slices among 6 large soup bowls.
- Ladle boiling broth over top.
- Serve cilantro, basil, and lime wedges on the side to be stirred into soup.
Notes
THE LOVE: The beautiful thing about VEGETARIAN PHO is as long as you nail the broth you can use any and all combinations of vegetables and herbs.
