Cozy Fall Soup: Vegan Pho with Tofu

Hi there! Happy Thursday 🧡

Today, I’m bringing you one of my favorite fall and winter soups: Vegan Pho 🍜

For those who don’t know what Pho is, it’s a Vietnamese noodle soup made with an aromatic broth and served with fresh herbs. You can find Pho in most restaurants around Vietnam, and many serve them Vegan because of Buddism.

I started making my own Pho when I was pregnant with Luca (now 5 years old and going on his first school trip 🥲). Back to the recipe, I thought this dish was quite difficult to make, or at least to achieve the flavors you get from a local restaurant, but the truth is that if you have the right spices, you can make a delicious Pho without investing too much time, and include it in your weekly menu together with our Meal Plan recipes.

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon coconut oil (or any type of vegetable oil)

• 2 white onion. Alternatively, you can use shallots, green onion, leek, or yellow onion.

• 1 piece of fresh ginger. When making pho, you want to make sure you get the right ginger. Small ginger is normally way more flavorful than bigger ginger (Chinese).

• 2 cinnamon sticks

• 6 star anise

• 0.5 teaspoon chili flakes (adjust for extra spiciness)

• 1 tablespoon black peppercorns

• 6 whole cloves

• 2 teaspoon coriander

• 1 teaspoon five-spice powder

• 3 tablespoon soy sauce or tamari

• 2 litre homemade or store-bought stock

• 10 oz rice noodles. Pho is served with Pho rice noodles. Pho flat rice noodles should just contain rice flour and water.

*If you don't want to get all these spices as you won't normally use them for cooking, you can get a Pho spice seasoning pack that contains a spice mixture.

Tofu

• 1 firm tofu. We choose extra-firm or firm tofu as our main protein for Vegan Pho.

• 1 tablespoon soy sauce

• 1 teaspoon sriracha sauce

• 1 teaspoon maple syrup

Toppings

• Green chilies or Jalapeños thinly sliced

• Lime

• Fresh herbs such as basil, coriander, mint, parsley, lettuce, etc.

Cooking Method

Step 1: Cut the ginger into slices and the onion into quarters. Place on a baking tray, using a baking sheet, and char the ingredients, placing them under the grill (broiler) for 10-15 minutes. Make sure you turn them around when they have charred on one side. This step will give your Pho a delicious smoky flavor.

If you want to speed up the cooking time, or simply skip using the oven, you can cook the onion and ginger in a large pot with coconut oil or on an open flame. Make sure you heat the pot to medium-high heat to be able to slightly burn the ingredients. Before adding your spices, lower the heat.

Step 2: Heat some coconut oil in a large pot to medium heat. Add the charred onion and ginger and the spices. Stir for a couple of minutes so the spices are fragrant and toasted.

Step 3: Add the vegetable stock and bring it to a simmer. Leave cooking for 25-30 minutes. Placing a colander on another large pot, strain the broth so the spices, ginger, and onion and left out.

Step 4: Add the soy sauce or tamari and salt to taste. You will need to adjust the salt depending on your stock.

Step 5: To prepare the tofu, cut a block of tofu into cubes. Heat 1 tablespoon of coconut oil in a frying pan to medium heat. Pan-fry the tofu and when it starts to golden, add soy sauce, sriracha sauce, and maple syrup. Stir for 2 minutes and turn off the heat. If you like extra crispy tofu, you can deep-fry or air-fry the protein.

Step 6: Cook the rice noodles following the package directions. When cooked, drain the water and leave them soaking in cold water to stop them from cooking further.

All you need to do now is to assemble your bowl of Pho.

To assemble your vegan pho, place a generous portion of noodles in the bottom of a deep large bowl. Pour the flavorful broth, tofu, and your choice of toppings and garnishing.

Fresh herbs, such as fresh cilantro, basil, or mint, are essential when enjoying a proper vegan pho recipe. You can also add bean sprouts, sliced jalapeños or green chilis, and wedges of lime for a burst of fresh flavor. Using lime is particularly useful as it helps to cut through the rich broth and brighten the entire dish.

You can slightly adjust the amount of broth based on your preference, but the noodles should be well submerged.

Variations

After so many years making this recipe, I have some variations that I’ve tried myself and you may want to try:

Change the plant-based protein for your Pho. Although our vegan version of the traditional Pho calls for tofu, feel free to try making this meal with other plant-based proteins such as vegan "beef", "duck" or "chicken". Some options include tempeh, seitan, or oyster mushrooms. You may also want to try marinating your alternative protein in a mixture of soy sauce and garlic for even more flavor.

Make it spicier or mild. Our Vegan Pho recipe comes out medium spicy (food spicy food lovers). You can adjust the spice level by adding more chili flakes or reducing the amount of it. Aside from the chili flakes, you can add sriracha, chili oil, or jalapeño for an extra spicy kick.

Change the toppings. The classic combination involves ingredients such as bean sprouts, fresh cilantro, and mint, but you can easily customize your vegan pho with your favorite veggies. Try adding fresh basil, thinly sliced red cabbage, or even mushrooms. Don't forget the traditional garnish of lime wedges.

Add vegetables. Adding more vegetables to your vegan pho is not only a way to boost its nutritional content but also allows for a wider range of flavors and textures. Some great choices are thinly sliced bell peppers, sliced shiitake mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, carrots, bok choy, or even spinach.

I hope you try this recipe 💚 Let me know in the comments!

Love,

Laura.