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BEST Vegan Pho Recipe you can find online!
How to make easy Vegan Pho at home.
Hi guys!
I’m super thrilled and excited to share my vegan pho recipe that I know you guys will make over and over and over again!
I’ve always loved pho, it absolutely has a pot on my heart. I used to go to a restaurant to eat pho all the time before I was plant-based because it’s so much more convenient. Making beef or chicken pho can take hours to finish for the deep, depth flavor. So even though I love cooking and pho, I just didn’t make it as often as I wanted. a few weeks ago, Jacob craved some warm soup because he didn’t feel 100% and I made this vegan pho and I surprised myself. One, how delicious it was. Two, how easy & quick to make it! This is absolutely the best vegan pho recipe you can find online!
BTW, do you add chili oil in your pho? For me, it’s an absolute must! It makes the broth so much richer and I love the kick!!
You can use any chili oil you have in your hand or you can find it in your local grocery stores but my choice would be my chili oil or my lemongrass chili sauce. It’s to die for!!! These two sauces are my must-have in my kitchen any day, anytime!
Either you add chili oil or not, this pho recipe will WOW yourself! 😂 This is the perfect recipe to start the month of October.🎃
Making your own pho from scratch at home gives you such an aesthetic vibe- toasting spices, roasting veggies, simmering soup… ah, everything you want for autumn! 🍁 Even though Hawaii really doesn’t get cold or changing the season but I can still create the vibe at home to celebrate one of my favorite seasons. 🌾
Toast all spices in a dry skillet over medium-high heat to release its aroma, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from skillet and set aside. The spices are I’m using for this recipes are…
- 5 star anise
- 1 1/2 tbsp coriander seeds
- 1 tbsp fennel seeds
- 2 Saigon cinnamon sticks or regular cinnamon sticks
- 1 tsp whole cloves
- 1/2 tsp ground cardamon or 1 to 2 whole black cardamom
Peel and cut in half 1 large onion (approximately 1 lb) and cut in half 1 large piece of ginger.
In the same skillet where we toasted our spices, place onion and ginger. Roast them over high heat, until their surfaces are blackened, charred, and oozing its juice, about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat, set aside.
In a large pot, add toasted spices (I recommend using a teabag if you have one), roasted onion, and ginger. Also add 1 lb of radish or carrot, 1 lb green cabbage, 6 green onion roots, and 3 to 5 cilantro roots (or a small bundle of cilantro stems). Pour 16 cups of cold water and cover. Bring soup to a boil over high heat then reduce heat to medium and simmer for 1 hour.
Meanwhile, cook your rice noodles by following the directions of the package you’re using. I like to use thin rice noodles for my pho, but you do you! Here’s a tip that I learned from my Vietnamese friend who is a fantastic cook, Be. You might know here from my Bun Rieu or Bun Bo Hue post, Be is the one who shared the amazing recipes with us! Anyways, she said if you air dries the cooked rice noodles, it will absolve whatever flavor, sauce, or broth much better. So since I learned that tip, that’s what I do and I want you to do the same because it makes a huge difference! When rice noodles are cooked, strain, quickly rinse under room temp water and let it air dry for 20 to 30 minutes.
On a small plate, arrange beansprouts, lime (or your choice of citrus, I used calamansi!), sliced chili, and Thai basil to serve with pho.
When broth is ready, remove all solid ingredients from the broth. You can save the radish if you used it. I usually discard the carrot and give it to my pigs (they love carrots!) but I like to eat my radish.☺️ I slice them and toss in a tiny bit of soy sauce, black vinegar, and chili oil. It is an amazing side dish, appetizer, or snack! Of course, you can serve the radish in a bowl of pho! Oh, if you didn’t use a teabag for the spices, make sure to skim all the spices out with a fine skimmer.
Season the soup with mushroom soy sauce (I like my Healthy Boy Brand mushroom soy sauce. You can use regular soy sauce too), Yondu, sugar, and salt. Add sliced fried tofu and some mushrooms to broth. They will be our “meat” in our pho. I love using fried tofu because it has a slight chew on the outside but you can use any extra firm tofu. I used beech mushrooms because they are one of my favorite mushrooms but you can use any mushrooms that you like! Shiitake or oyster mushrooms will be delicious in here too! Bring the soup back to boil over medium-high heat to cook mushrooms and tofu then remove from heat.
Go ahead and chop some cilantro, green onion and slice some red onion. Now we’re ready, let’s assemble!
In a bowl, add cooked rice noodles, sprinkle with some chopped cilantro, green onion, and sliced red onion. Then pour broth with tofu and mushrooms.
Serve with sriracha, hoisin sauce, chili oil, and a veggie plate. You know what to do now.
Slurp slurp slurp!
Enjoy!
BEST Vegan Pho
- Author: Seonkyoung Longest
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 6 1x
Ingredients
Scale
For the Spices
- 5 star anise
- 1 1/2 tbsp coriander seeds
- 1 tbsp fennel seeds
- 2 Saigon cinnamon sticks or regular cinnamon sticks
- 1 tsp whole cloves
- 1/2 tsp ground cardamon or 1 to 2 whole black cardamom
For the Broth
- 1 large onion (approximately 1 lb), peeled and cut in half
- 1 large ginger (approximately 2 oz), cut into half
- 6 green onion roots, optional
- 1 lb Korean radish or carrot, cut into large chunks
- 1 lb green cabbage
- 3 to 5 cilantro roots or cilantro stems
- 16 cups of cold water
- 2 tbsp mushroom soy sauce or regular soy sauce
- 3 tbsp yondu, vegetable fermented sauce, or fish sauce substitute
- 2 tsp sugar
- 2 to 3 tsp salt
- 1 lb fried tofu or extra firm tofu, sliced
- 12 oz beech, oyster, or/and shiitake mushrooms, sliced
To Make a Bowl & Serve
- Thin rice noodles
- Beansprouts
- Lemon, lime or calamansi
- Sliced serrano or jalapeno
- Thai basil
- Chopped cilantro
- Chopped green onion
- Sliced red onion
- Sriracha
- Hoisin sauce
- Chili oil
Instructions
- Toast all spices in a dry skillet over medium-high heat to release their aroma, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from skillet and set aside.
- In the same skillet, place onion and ginger. Roast them over high heat, until their surfaces are blackened, charred, and oozing their juice, about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat, and set aside.
- In a large pot, add toasted spices (I recommend using a teabag if you have one), roasted onion, and ginger. Also add green onion roots radish, cabbage, and cilantro root, and pour cold water. Cover, bring it to a boil over high heat then reduce heat to medium and simmer for 1 hour.
- Meanwhile, cook your rice noodles by following the directions of the package you’re using. When rice noodles are cooked, strain, rinse under room temp water, and let them air dry for 20 to 30 minutes.
- On a small plate, arrange beansprouts, lime, sliced chili, and Thai basil to serve with pho.
- When broth is ready, remove all solid ingredients from the broth and season with mushroom soy sauce, Yondu, sugar, and salt. Add fried tofu and mushrooms to the broth. Bring it to boil over medium-high heat to cook mushrooms and tofu then remove from heat.
- Let’s assemble! In a bowl, add cooked rice noodles, and sprinkle with some chopped cilantro, green onion, and sliced red onion. Then pour broth with tofu and mushrooms. Serve with sriracha, hoisin sauce, chili oil, and a veggie plate. Enjoy!
- Cook Time: 1 hour
