I keep pretending its fall. Yes, its October, and yes the stores are donning their pumpkins and delicious squash, BUT it remains a cool 90 degrees where I am. I’ve gone so far to try to trick my mind that its fall that I am constantly brewing fall teas, setting the fireplace up, listening to folky music, adding extra blankets to my favorite sitting places, and making soups by the gallon. Don’t get me wrong, I love summer, and summer of 2014 was one for the books, but with fall comes a certain feeling, its hard to describe; kind of refreshing, a whole new palate of colors, and friendly, everyone is happy in the fall because the holidays are right around the corner.
With that being said and as I mentioned above, soups have become a staple in this extreme heat wave. No need to tell me I’m crazy, I already know. Lately I can’t get enough homemade oriental soups, they are just too delicious. Pho has become a staple in my diet. its the perfect soup- comforting, filling, the perfect hangover cure, and if you add enough spices, a great way to ward off a cold. Theres a great little vegan pho place down the road from me and I love to treat myself to a big bowl of hearty soup, but sometimes, I just don’t wanna brush my hair or put adult pants on to go get it, so I decided to make it at home.
For starters, what is pho? Pho is a popular Vietnamese street food, it is a broth bases soup with rice noodles and topped with an assortment of veggies. Traditionally, the broth is ox tail, but as a vegan, I can’t be having that so veganising this soup was about as easy as they come.
Ingredients:
*Please keep in mind that I try to avoid measuring things out at all cost. I don’t like the specifics and I don’t have time for them, so eyeball this. If you want more broth, add more broth, if you want more noodles, throw in the noods’ as you please.
-Vegan Pho Broth, this is kind of like cheating but Im halfway lazy and this tasted better than anything I concocted on my own. Every Sprouts and Whole Foods I have been to carries this. Its organic, in a yellowish carton, and delicious. It makes enough for 3 hearty bowls of pho.
-Rice noodles, I went for brown rice noodles bc they peaked my interest, but whatever rice noodles you like will work
-Bean sprouts
-White onion
-Veggies, I have seen places put broccoli, carrots, and other veggies in their pho soups but to me it makes it a little less authentic, I like my pho with sliced mushrooms and green cabbage, but again, eat to your liking
-Fresh cilantro
-Fresh Thai basil
-Raw jalepeno (if jalepenos are too spicy for you, omit or use another pepper)
-Sriracha
-Hoisin
-Limes
I put a large amount of broth on medium heat while I boiled plain water for my noodles, I wanted the broth hot, but not boiling. Add noodles to water when the water is boiling. While my noodles cooked I prepped my veggies. I wanted the mushrooms to be a little softer and soak up the flavor of the broth so I chopped them and thew them in the pot with the broth. I also didnt want my cabbage to be too crunchy so I did the same with it too.
On a separate plate I added my bean sprouts, cut lime, chopped basil and cilantro, and raw jalepeno.
Once my noodles were done, I drained (didnt rinse because again, I am lazy) and added them to the bottom of the bowl I was eating out of. I topped with my mushroom cabbage broth. I added a squirt of sriracha and a bit oh hoisin (hoisin is a sweet sauce, think mild teriyaki) and voila! my pho is ready to go!
Like, Everything 