Pho-nomenal Vegan Pho

Makes 4 giant bowls of delicious soup.

This recipe is long, but don’t let it fool you.  Lots of ingredients, but the steps are simple and doable! Dust off your (7 or more quart) slow cooker for this one! If you don’t have a slow cooker or a large enough one, you can definitely make this broth on the stovetop in probably about an hour and a half.  I haven’t tried it, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. I like the idea of letting my broth cook all day, perfuming my house with all of its aromatic amazingness.

INGREDIENTS

For the broth you will need:

·         2 tbs. grapeseed oil

·         2 dried red chili peppers

·         1 jalapeno, halved long ways

·         10 big garlic cloves, smashed and peeled

·         2 large yellow onions, peeled and quartered

·         3 stems lemongrass, roughly chopped into about 3 inch pieces

·         A 4-inch piece of ginger, peeled and sliced into medallions

·         4 whole star anise

·         2 cinnamon sticks

·         ¼ cup coriander seeds

·         4 whole cloves

·         1 tsp. ground black pepper

·         ½ cup basil leaves and stems

·         ½ cup cilantro leaves and stems

·         ½ cup mint leaves and stems

·         2 tbs. brown sugar (or coconut sugar if there is evidence that your brown sugar is not vegan)

·         2 tbs. rice vinegar

·         4 tbs. soy sauce (low sodium)

·         8 cups good quality vegetable stock (preferably homemade, but if you don’t have any, Trader Joe’s has a really rich broth that will impart great flavor! You will get a darker broth if you use a store bought stock.)

·         2 cups water

·         2 tbs. coconut oil, to add at the end!

Soup additions:

·         8 oz. of rice or soba noodles (rice noodles are more traditional, soba noodles have great protein and are super earthy, which pairs great with the broth)

·         1 package of extra firm tofu, pressed…then cubed and broiled (see how I did that below!)

·         Bean sprouts

·         Baby spinach leaves or another somewhat delicate green that will wilt easily. A little pre-boiled kale would also work.

·         Bok Choy, chopped and steamed

·         Carrots or radishes, sliced thinly (or both if you want!)

·         Serrano chili, sliced thinly

·         Chopped basil, cilantro, and mint

·         Lime wedges

·         Anything else you think might taste delicious in this soup.  I will most likely experiment more and more each time I make it!

DIRECTIONS

Broth directions:

·         Heat the grapeseed oil and dried chili peppers in a non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. Cook for 4-5 minutes, allowing the chili to infuse the oil a bit.  (If you want to skip this step, just use chili oil, but be careful! Use maybe half as much, as it will most likely be much spicier than the oil I infused myself!)

·         Remove the chili peppers with a slotted spoon and discard.  Add the jalapeno, garlic, and onion to the pan. Cook until you see the veggies starting to char and caramelize, about 4-5 minutes.  If it doesn’t all fit in one batch, that’s ok…just do this in two batches.  You don’t need to add more oil to the pan if that’s the case…the veggies will caramelize without it. 

·         Pour the oil, garlic, jalapeno, and onion into the base of your slow cooker, and then return the pan to the stove.

·         Put the lemongrass and ginger into the pan, still on medium-high heat. Let them cook until the ginger starts to caramelize on the outside.  Then, add them to the slow cooker base.

·         Next, place the star anise, cinnamon, coriander seeds, and cloves in the pan.  Toast them on medium heat for 1-2 minutes, until they become nice and fragrant.  Toasting the spices is an important step…the broth will not be as robustly flavored if you skip this part! When the spices are all toasty, add them to the slow cooker base.

·         Add the rest of the ingredients (except for the coconut oil!) to the slow cooker base.  Give everything a good stir and then let it cook on low for about 8 hours or so.  The longer the broth infuses with all of that great flavor, the better!

·         After it has simmered away, turn off the slow cooker, and strain the broth into a large pot.  Turn it on low just to keep it warm until you are ready to slurp it up. 

·         Before serving, add the coconut oil and stir in until it is melted.  This step will give an effect like the meat and bones would do in your typical pho, giving the pho a little more of an unctuous mouthfeel (ßprobably my two least favorite words ever, right there next to each other in this sentence. *shudder*).

·         Taste and adjust salt level to your liking, either with sea salt or more soy sauce.  Ladle the broth over the tasty soup additions just waiting for you in your bowl!

Directions for the rest of the soup:

·         Cook 8 oz. of rice or soba noodles according to package directions and then set them aside.  If they stick together, just run a little water over them and gently unstick them with your fingers. I don’t cook them directly in the broth for two reasons: 1. I don’t want my noodles stealing all of my broth for themselves. 2. It makes the broth cloudy and starchy. No thanks.

·         Put your pressed and cubed tofu in a bowl. Sprinkle it with some salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  Take about a tablespoon of grapeseed oil and pour it in there, too.  Toss the tofu until it is evenly coated with oil and seasonings.  Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray (I use the coconut oil spray from Trader Joe’s, but any spray would do), and then put the tofu cubes on the baking sheet in an even level.  Broil on high for about 10-15 minutes, until the tops of the cubes are super crunchy and the rest of the cubes are noticeably losing moisture.  Take them out and then set them aside.

·         Time to build your giant bowl of soup! Choose some large bowls and start filling them with piles of yummy additions.  Put the noodles in one corner, and then work your way around the bowl making little piles of ingredients: tofu cubes, bean sprouts, baby spinach leaves, carrot or radish slices, Serrano chili slices, bok choy, basil, cilantro, and mint.  Finish with a squeeze of lime. Then, ladle steaming hot broth over all of it and dig in.  Take that, winter!!

Tips and Tricks:

·         I use a non-stick frying pan very often.  It’s not because I am too much of a wimp and I don’t want my food getting stuck (ok maybe it’s a little because of that), but it is mostly because  I don’t want to keep adding oil to the pan with every step.  Little bits of oil tend to add up, even if you are staying really aware of it.  This recipe has 5 tablespoons of oil in it, which was about as much as I was willing to include.  When that is split between the four bowls of soup, that’s not so bad at all.  However, if we just add a tablespoon here and a tablespoon there in order to make sure our food doesn’t stick to our pans, the extra fat and calories add up really quickly! I’d prefer to keep the recipes lighter and make up for it with lots of herbs and spices.

·         Load up the fresh veggies in your soup.  Seriously, go nuts. It is a great way to feel completely indulgent while actually eating food that’s pretty good for you.  If you are someone who needs to limit the carbs, I bet that if you made long zucchini or carrot strips in place of the noodles, it would still be absolutely delicious! In fact, I’m totally making that this week. Will let you know how it goes.