Pho sure this is a great soup
Those of us who don't eat meat, could eat around the flesh...or just make our own at home. I prefer the latter.
Pho (sorry, I don't have the Vietnamese keyboard to use the proper accents) is a dish that became popular in the northern part of the country in the mid 1880s. It was influenced by soups and stews of the Chinese and French occupiers of that region.
It is said that the name is derived from the French "pot au feu'', a kind of beef stew. The flavors are influenced by the French stew, Chinese herb combinations and then regional flavors depending on where the soup was made.
Except for the non-adventurous eater who I happened to fall madly in love with, I don't know anyone who doesn't like pho. It's a fresh, bright soup with loads of herbs. I make mine with portobellos, my carnivorous friends like thinly sliced beef.
How do you like your pho?
Vegetarian Pho
Serves 4
For the stock
- 2 tablespoon of vegetable base or vegetable bouillon
- 1 tablespoon of soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon of sugar
- 1 2" piece of ginger, sliced thin
- 12 of a yellow onion, cut into large chunks
- 1/8 teaspoon of kosher salt
- 2 whole cloves
- 2 whole star anise
- 1 cinnamon stick
To assemble the bowl
- 1/2 pound of rice noodles, rinsed
- 1/2 pound of baby bella mushrooms, cut as thin as possible
- 1 cup of basil leaves
- 1/2 cup of cilantro leaves
- 4 scallions, sliced thin
- 1 red jalapeno pepper, sliced thin
- 1/2 yellow onion, sliced as thin as possible
For the table
- 1 lime, cut into wedges
- Hoisin sauce
- Chili sauce
- To make the stock, add the vegetable base to a quart of water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil.
- Add the soy sauc.e, the sugar, the ginger, the onion and salt.
- Wrap the cloves, the star anise, and the cinnamon stick in a piece of cheesecloth and tie it up into a pouch.
- Add the pouch to the stock.
- Simmer for 30-45 minutes (depending on how strong you want these flavors), When it tastes the way you like it, remove the pouch and all the aromatics from the pot.
- Bring the stock back to a simmer.
- Meanwhile, bring another pot with water to a boil.
- In a noodle strainer or colander, put the noodles into the boiling water and keep them there for about 30 seconds or until the noodles are al dente.
- Drain the excess liquid from the noodles and divide them among 4 bowls.
- Top with the mushrooms, the basil, the cilantro, the scallions, the jalapeno, and the paper thin onions.
- Pour enough stock into each bowl to cover the contents.
- Garnish with the lime wedges.
