Faux Pho

Uh oh. Back to noodles again.

About a week ago, I ate at a local Vietnamese restaurant, 5 Seasons Grill, that served vegetable pho. I was given the choice between beef broth and vegetable broth, and was impressed at how pho-filling (sorry, I couldn't help it!) the "vegetable" broth was. My friend said that the vegetable broth reminded her of udon soup base. So with an udon soup base bottle in hand, I decided to try making my own vegetarian pho.

The particular brand I was using had fish sauce in it, which does not make it vegetarian. There are brands out there that are fish sauce free, but I have not tried any of them yet. Udon soup base is actually concentrated soba sauce, just diluted with water and is easily found in any Asian food market. When buying noodles for pho, do not get dry rice noodles, purchase the "wet" version that is stored in the refrigerated section. Lastly, there are two types of bean sprouts sold at asian stores and they look pretty similar to each other. Do not buy the one that has a darker yellow sprout, you want the one that is a lighter yellow.

Luckily, this pho wont take days or hours to get broth, just minutes.

Vegetable Pho (Faux Pho)

30 min, Serves 4

8 cups water

1 cup soba sauce (Udon soup base)

6 servings of pho (wet) rice noodles

6 medium shitake mushrooms, sliced

1 cup onion, thinly sliced

1 cup carrots, 1/4 inch thin rounds

6 cups bean sprouts

1 cup snow peas, cut in half

2 cups cilantro, diced

6 sprigs thai basil

Other vegetables*

1. Add water and soba sauce to a pot and boil on medium-high. Once this boils, add carrots and cook for 5 min. Remove cooked carrots with a strainer ladle and set aside.

2. In another pot, boil some water on high. Place a single serving of noodles into this pot for 2 min and remove with a strainer ladle. Move cooked noodles into a serving bowl.

3. Add all vegetables including carrots to the serving bowl. Pour boiling broth over everything so the ingredients cook. Serve immediately. Add Sriracha Hot Chili sauce and Hoison sauce to taste. If you find the broth to be too salty, add hot water. If it seems too bland add a touch of soba sauce or soy sauce.

*Try using cabbage, broccoli, or button mushrooms with your pho!