How to Make Vegetarian Pho

Pho is a delicious noodle soup that you can enjoy in a Vietnamese restaurant, or you can prepare it for yourself at home. The most challenging part of this soup is the broth, which can take a few hours to make from scratch. However, the result is well worth the wait. If you want to make your own vegetarian pho at home, then you will just need to make the broth, prepare the noodles, toppings, and garnishes, and then put it all together for serving.

EditIngredients

• Vegetables of your choice to make the broth, such as onions, leeks, carrots, and turnips
• Water
• 1 large onion, halved and peeled
• Whole spices of your choice to season the broth, such as star anise, cloves, cinnamon, peppercorns, and ginger
• 1 pound of tofu, faux beef, mushrooms, broccoli, bok choy, or napa cabbage (use more than one topping if you like)
• oil for sautéing
• 3 cloves of garlic minced
• 1/2 teaspoon of Chinese five spice
• 1 package of rice noodles, thick or thin
• Garnishes of your choice, such as limes, bean sprouts, Thai basil, crush peanuts, and sriracha sauce

EditSteps

EditMaking the Broth

1. Chop the vegetables. Making a vegetarian pho requires lots of vegetables. Peel and chop your vegetables into large chunks. You can use any combination of four or more vegetables. Use about 1 pound of each kind. Some good ones to use include:^[1][2]
   
   
   • Leeks
   • Carrots
   • Corn
   • Turnips
   • Onions
   • Apples or pears (not vegetables, but will add some nice sweetness and dimension)
2. Add the vegetables, water, salt, and sugar to the pot. Add the chopped vegetables (and fruits if you used them) to the pot and cover them completely with water. Then, add about 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of sugar.^[3]
   
   
   • You can add up to 1/2 tablespoon more sugar if you want the soup to be a little on the sweeter side.^[4]
   • Turn the burner on high heat and allow the water to come to a boil. Then, reduce the heat to medium heat and let the vegetables simmer in the water.
3. Char the onion, ginger, and other spices. While the vegetables boil, char a halved and peeled onion, some ginger slices, and some other spices of your choice. To char the onion and spices, place them on an open flame, such as on a grill, or place them in a nonstick skillet over high heat for a few minutes. Turn them over after a few minutes to char both sides.
   
   • Scrape away the burnt bits of the onion and then place it into the pot of boiling veggies.^[5]
   • Some other good spices to use in the broth include 6 whole pieces of star anise, 5 whole cloves, 1 tablespoon of black peppercorns, or a cinnamon stick.^[6] Use them all for maximum flavor.
   • The onion can go straight into the broth, but it is a good idea to contain the other spices in a spice sack. To do this, take the ginger slices and other spices and place them into a tea bag. Then put the spice sack into the pot.
   • You can also place the ginger and spices straight into the pot if you plan to strain the broth before serving it. Otherwise, you might accidentally serve whole spices to someone.
4. Simmer the ingredients for a few hours. Let all of the ingredients simmer in the pot for a few hours. The longer the ingredients simmer, the more flavorful the broth will become. When the soup has finished cooking, use a slotted spoon to remove the large chunks of vegetables and the spice packet.^[7]
   
   
   • You can also pour the broth through a sieve and into a separate large pot to separate the vegetables and spices from the broth.
5. Taste the broth before serving. It is important to taste the pho broth before you serve it to determine if you need to add any more salt or sugar. If it does not taste salty enough, then add some more salt. If does not taste sweet enough, then add more sugar.^[8]
   
   • Add only a small amount at a time (1/2 tablespoon of sugar or ¼ teaspoon of salt) and taste the broth as you adjust it to avoid over seasoning the broth.

EditPreparing the Noodles, Toppings, and Garnishes

1. Pan fry the tofu. Tofu is a popular protein choice for vegetarian pho. However, you can use a different vegetarian protein, such as vegetarian “beef” slices, or just use some mushrooms instead. Slice up your tofu, faux beef, or mushrooms and place the slices in a non-stick oiled skillet.^[9] If you prefer, you can also use additional vegetables for your toppings, such as bok choy, napa cabbage, or broccoli.^[10]
   
   • If desired, you can add some chopped garlic and ½ teaspoon of Chinese five spice powder while the ingredients are cooking.
   • Sauté the tofu, faux beef, or mushrooms until they are golden brown.
   • Then, remove the skillet from the heat and set it aside.
2. Cook the noodles. Cook the rice noodles according to the package’s instructions. You will need to boil them in a pot of water, but the amount of time that the noodles will need to cook will depend on the thickness of the noodles.^[11]
   
   
   • For example, if you are using thick rice noodles, then they will take a little longer to cook than thin noodles.
   • After you finish cooking the noodles, strain them with a sieve and pour cold water over them or hold them under cold running water for a few minutes. This will stop the cooking process and help to prevent the noodles from sticking together too much.
3. Prepare your garnish plate. The last thing you will need to do is prepare a garnish plate so that you can customize your pho experience. You can add any variety of add-ins and condiments that you like. Place your garnishes on a plate just before you are ready to serve the pho. Some popular choices include:^[12][13]
   
   • Bean sprouts
   • Thai basil leaves
   • Cilantro
   • Chopped scallions
   • Sliced jalapeno peppers
   • Lime wedges
   • Crushed peanuts
   • Sriracha sauce
   • Hoisin sauce

EditServing the Pho

1. Put some noodles in a bowl. To assemble a bowl of pho, place about a cup of rice noodles into a large soup bowl.^[14] Pho is normally served in a big bowl, so use something larger than you normally would. A bowl that will hold about four cups is ideal.^[15]
   
   • You can use a smaller bowl if you don’t have any large bowls, but you may want to put only ½ cup of noodles in instead. Otherwise, your other ingredients might not fit.
2. Add the tofu, faux beef or mushrooms. Get some of your sautéed tofu, faux beef, or mushrooms and add them to the bowl. Place them on top of your noodles.^[16][17]
   
   
   • Don’t worry if they are not hot any more. The broth will heat them up again!
3. Ladle the broth over the noodles and toppings. Next, ladle the pho broth over the noodles and toppings.^[18] Add lots of broth! The broth should cover the noodles and toppings completely.^[19]
   
   
4. Add your garnishes. Finish up your bowl of vegetarian pho by adding the garnishes of your choice.^[20] You can add as much or as little of the garnishes as you like depending on your preferences. Add some sriracha or hoisin sauce to adjust the spiciness or sweetness of the broth.^[21]
   
   
   • You can also prepare a couple of bowls of sriracha and hoisin sauce for dipping. You can dip your tofu or faux beef slices into the sauces as you eat the soup.
   • Use chopsticks or a fork to eat the noodles and other larger items in the soup and use a large spoon to drink the broth.

EditVideo

EditRelated wikiHows

• Make Pho
• Make Vegan Wonton Soup
• Become a Vegetarian
• Make Vegetarian Green Curry Paste

EditSources and Citations

• Videos provided by Helen's Recipes (Vietnamese Food)

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