Vegan pho recipe with tofu and mushrooms

I remember the first ever phở I tried. It was in a local vegan establishment on the island of Phú Quốc in Vietnam. I hadn’t yet acclimatised to the heat, but I still managed to devour a full bowl of this noodle soup.

Ever since then, I have been addicted. I ate it pretty much every other day. It was the perfect hangover cure, as well as a comforting weekend breakfast dish. You could eat it in a fancy restaurant or on the side of the road from a local street vendor. No matter where, it was delicious.

Lucy

Vegan phở

5 from 2 votes

My vegan take on the classic Vietnamese dish, phở. It is simple yet extremely flavourful.

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Servings: 4 people

Ingredients

  

Spices

• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 star anise
• 1 tbsp coriander seeds
• 1 tsp cloves
• 2 black cardamom pods

Aromatics

• 2 white onions peeled and halved
• 20 g ginger cut into chunks
• 1 carrot peeled and cut into chunks

Soup

• 1 apple
• 1 tbsp white miso
• 1 tbsp vegan fish sauce
• 30 g dried mushrooms soaked in 500ml water
• 1 vegan beef stock cube in 2.5l water

Topping

• Mushrooms I use lion's mane
• Brown onion finely sliced
• Spring onions a bunch
• Mung beans a large handful
• Herbs Thai basil and coriander
• 2 Limes

Sauces

• Sriracha optional
• Hoisin sauce optional

Method

 

1. Rinse your dried mushrooms to get rid of any dirt and dunk them into a bowl with 500ml water and set aside until later.
   
2. Dry fry your spices in saute pan until they have browned and released a beautiful spice fragrance, remove them and allow to cool down on the side before placing inside a muslin cloth or spice ball.
   
3. Place the aromatic ingredients (onion, ginger, and carrot) into the same saute pan and char them until they are dark, but not burnt. This may cause the pan to smoke a tad, so just make sure to keep your windows open!
   
4. Place the cooked aromatics, spices (wrapped inside a muslin cloth or put into a spice ball), rehydrated mushrooms (and their soaking liquid), and the rest of the soup ingredients into a large stock pot.
   
5. Bring to a boil and then put down to a simmer and cook the broth for 1 hour.
6. If you want to impart even more flavour in to the broth then you can cook it for much longer, just remove the spices so they don't overpower it.
7. Meanwhile, cook your noodles according to packet instructions and rinse with cold water and leave to drain.
8. Prep any of your other fresh toppings, like your herbs, spring onions, sliced brown onions, and beansprouts.
9. Once your broth is cooked, pass it through a seive or colander over the top of a large bowl. If your broth is a little bitty, then you can pass it through a muslin cloth which is placed over the top of a colander.
10. Pour the broth back into the stock pot and keep it warm on the stove whilst you prep the hot toppings.
11. Slice and cook your mushrooms in a frying pan and prepare your tofu accoridng to how you want it (either fried or fresh).
12. Place your cooked noodles into individual serving bowls and pour the hot broth over the top of each before adding the cooked mushrooms and tofu.
13. Serve it with a bowl of sriracha and/or hoisin sauce on the side for people to stir into their broth, as well as a plate with the fresh herbs, onion, beansprouts and lime slices on the side for people to add to their pho.
    
14. Slurp and enjoy!

Other vegan Vietnamese recipes

Having spent a lot of time in Vietnam, I get a lot of enjoyment out of recreating the dishes that I love eating there. Check out my other creations here:

• Vegan spring rolls with peanut sauce
• Vegan banh xeo
• Vietnamese-style vegan kimchi