Pho! Pho! Pho! Vegetarian Pho!

Variable 3 or 4, becoming north 4 or 5, increasing 6 later.

Smooth or slight, occasionally moderate.

Showers.

Good, occasionally moderate.

 

 

Most Vegetarians have a dish which really stretches their resolve. I have a friend, a Vegetarian for 40 years, who is not at all tempted by whatever you offer here. However she visits once every three years her home country, Germany, and there she succumbs to “Leberkaes”.  

She wont touch any other meat product and it happens only every three years, but she cant resist this particular siren. 

Another friend found his formidable opponent in the shape of a chorizo. My youngest son walks a bit faster if he passes a chicken on a grill. My daughter is fond of Yorkshire pudding, cooked in lard.
For me it was always Pho. Dont get me wrong, I am by no means a full blown Vegetarian. Even when I did not eat anything meaty or fish, I always used anchovies, fish and oyster sauce. As I said several times I try to avoid meat products if there is an equal scrumptious Vegetarian alternative.  And there are plenty. But sometimes there are none. And so far Pho was one of them.
I am a soup person and I try constantly to make my ever changing list of the best ten soups of the world. While the order is up to daily changes, the list consist of a variety of influences. From a French onion soup, an Italian Pappa al pomodore, a Scottish Cullen Skink, an American Clam chowder, a Malaysian Laksa Lemak, a Thai Tom Yam, a bourride..the list is endless. But there is one soup which tops them all, a Vietnamese Pho. Spicy, scrumptious beef stock, filled with noodles and garnished with many herbs, beansprouts and lime juice..there is no better way to start the day. Or end it. Or have as a lunch.

When I was working in Vietnam I had it daily. Most of the times for breakfast, but if not for breakfast, than later in the day. And I still cook it once per week. But it is beef and no amount of trial could convince me that there is a Vegetarian alternative. Until recently when I looked for alternatives to finally tackle the disappointing issue of the so called vegetable stock.

My mistake was that I only looked at vegetables and never at fruit and vegetables. Once I got there, through a website on Huế fod, the Vegetarian Pho was there. As satisfying as any meat product. It sounded so bizarre and I tweaked it a bit but only after I realised that the structural concept is correct.  I have broken it down for you in case you don’t want to try a Vegetarian option. Just replace step one with a beef broth and swap in the soup “assembly” the pieces of tofu with the beef. May I suggest that you have a look in your Chinese supermarket, in the fridge selection, if there is any “five spice brisket”. Use it. If it is not there, just make your normal beef stock.

Oh, and the photo is not mine. My piece of shit called a camera broke finally down so I had to find a picture which was labelled “allowed for reuse”. The darker slices which look like meat are “fake duck”. While “fake duck” is really good, you don’t need it in my recipe. And please don’t be disheartened by the list of ingredients or steps. It is really simple.

Vegetarian Pho

Step one, the stock

1 tart apple

1 pear

1 carrot

1 baby leek

5 radishes or half of a daikon radish

1 shallot

1 fermented garlic

1 litre water

2 tbsp salt

1 tsp rock sugar or Kandis

2-3 dried porcini, unsoaked

Step two, the special Pho aroma

1 knob ginger (about 5 cm) sliced but not peeled

2 star anise

2 cinnamon stick

2 cardamom pods with their shells

2 shallots

Step three, the assembly

50 gr tofu skin or "mock duck", soaked in warm water 15 mins

100 gr tofu deep-fried and cut into bite-size

200 gr fresh shitake mushrooms

100 gr dried flat rice noodle

20 gr sawtooth herbs chopped (optional since it is really tricky to get)

20 gr Thai basil

100 gr bean sprouts, blanched

1 lime, cut into quarters

1 red bird eye chilli, cut in small pieces.

Fish sauce

Hoisin sauce

Sriracha

Cut the vegetables and fruits into small pieces.  Add to the water, dried mushrooms, fermented garlic, sugar and salt. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat to simmer for 30 minutes.

Make the special Pho trade mark: Cut the shallots in half (no need to peel) and put, cut side down into a pan. Fry without oil until the shallots omit a charred flavour. Add the other aroma ingredients and let them roast as well. About 2 minutes. Add the aromas to the stock and continue to cook all for another 30 minutes.

In a separate pan cook the rice noodles according to instructions and dump into ice water after they are done. This prevents them to get soggy and overcooked.

Fry the tofu, the tofu skin (if you use it) and blanche the bean sprouts. Slice and fry the mushrooms.

Assemble the bowl: Noodles, tofu, mushrooms. Make a separate plate where you put the beansprouts, the lime, the herbs and the chilli. Make another small plate where you add a bit of the hoisin sauce and the Sriracha.

In Vietnam you will get three sets: One with a bowl full of noodles, broth and beef (or tofu and mushrooms), one plate with the “vegetables” and a third small plate where you can put your favourite condiment.

 Put the finished stock through a sieve and capture the broth with a bowl. Discard of the contents of the sieve and ladle half of the stock into your bowl. Adjust for personal taste with lime juice and/or fish sauce. Let it warm for a minute.

Before you eat you add a bit of the bean sprouts, herbs, and chilli into the soup. This is no pretentious food wankery. The saw tooth herb and Thai basil turn black if they are too long in a hot broth and Vietnamese food is all about freshness. Take a piece of tofu or meat and dip it into either the Hoisin or Chilli sauce. Then get with your spoon the noodles, broth, beansprouts, herbs and chilli and slurp them. Add another small amount of beansprouts and/or herbs and repeat.

It may sound complicated and I really tried to get a video to show it to you. But there is none. All there is are videos from people doing it wrong. The worst is one from Anthony Bourdain who throws everything in and tops it with chilli sauce. No wonder the guy next to him looks horrified. It is quite astonishing that a chef doesn’t question why another chef did not put everything in the first place. Hey dude, there is a reason for three plates. And it is not that Asian people like doing the washing up. Actually I found one. Notice how some people don’t use any of the condiments while others eat just the bit where they added the herb or beansprouts.

Freeze the other half of the stock for another Pho experience.