Vegan Pho with Scratch-Made Broth (Pho Chay)

Three years in the making, this vegan pho is one of my favorite recipes to date. It includes a fragrant homemade vegan pho broth that tastes very similar to a beef pho broth. Read all about my experience developing this recipe in the blog post below. The best part is this pho recipe takes just an hour to make!

I have been working on this vegan pho recipe (pho chay) for 3 years because I wanted to get it just right. I grew up on beef and chicken pho, and I always kind of felt bad my vegan and vegetarian friends couldn’t enjoy pho like I did. So I sought to make one they could! Pho is such an important part of Vietnamese cuisine, so I really wanted to do it justice! I absolutely love this vegan pho from the toppings to the fragrant homemade vegan pho broth that tastes really similar to beef broth. It’s not exactly the same, but it is pretty darn close.

I finally got all the veg together to attempt this and yes, so very good esp being vegan… I appreciate your detailed instructions and tips, cooking it longer at lower temps definitely gave it that deeper flavor while maintaining the clear broth

Lola

How I developed my vegan pho recipe

Replicating that balance of flavors with just vegetables can be challenging, as I learned! It was especially difficult to replicate that umami flavor that mostly comes from meat. My goal for this vegan pho recipe was to create a broth that was as similar as possible to beef broth, so you still get that same experience of eating pho but without the meat. The broth took around 3 years of testing, tweaking, and research.

My first version of the broth had pretty weak flavor since I only used mushrooms, daikon, onions, ginger, spices, and vegetable broth. It just didn’t have the full body richness that you associate with a pho broth. I tried a few different tweaks but ultimately gave up. I was stuck, so I spent the next few years researching different vegetables and how they could add umami flavor to a broth. In those years, I also watched a lot of Top Chef, a reality competition show featuring chefs. Through watching that show, I learned about a lot of different vegetables that have umami flavor. One big one was cabbage. Cabbage was often used as the “protein” for vegetarian dishes on the show, so I thought it would be a great idea to use that as the base.

In addition to cabbage, I also read about how celery, when used in conjunction with an “umami” ingredient, amplifies the umami flavor of that ingredient. I tested another version in 2022, but the broth still didn’t taste right even with those ingredients added. 2023 rolls around, and I was invited to an event about Koji. Koji is a Japanese fungus that is used to produce products like soy sauce, miso, and mirin. It is also the reason these products have that umami flavor everyone loves. That event inspired me to add soy sauce to the broth which helped with the umami flavor and gave it the “beef” color. That last piece of the puzzle really made a difference in my broth.

How is my vegan pho broth different than traditional pho broths

I wouldn’t say this vegan pho broth is traditional since it includes a lot of ingredients that are not used in a traditional pho broth (soy sauce, celery, cabbage, carrots etc). However, I stand by it because it is the closest I’ve tasted to a traditional beef pho broth. I also think vegan and vegetarian people (a lot of them are my friends) should not miss out a great bowl of pho just because they don’t eat meat.

Some deets about key ingredients

Vegan Pho Broth

This list of ingredients is a lot, but I wouldn’t deviate from the recipe much if you want the best flavor. I do however offer a few substitutions. It is difficult to get that balance of sweet, umami, and salty flavors without meat. That’s why so many ingredients are required.

• Cabbage – This is the base of the broth and responsible for much of the umami flavor. I highly recommend green cabbage for this recipe because it has the best umami flavor. I tested this with Napa cabbage, and found the broth was a lot less flavorful.
• Shiitake mushrooms – Mushrooms have inherent umami flavor which is why I added it to the broth. Shiitake mushrooms can be substituted with porcini or cremini mushrooms.
• Celery – One of the most surprising discoveries of developing this recipe was celery! While it has no flavor, it actually enhances the umami flavor of the other ingredients sort of like Japanese kombu. While testing, I found celery greatly improved the umami flavor of the broth. Don’t skip out on this ingredient!
• Vegetable broth – I would recommend high quality vegetable broth for this recipe. However, use whatever you can find.

Noodle Bowl

• Pho noodles – I recommend fresh pho noodles since it has the best texture and flavor. I discuss the pros and cons between fresh and dried noodles below.
• Fried tofu – Tofu gives this dish some protein and texture. You can either make your own or buy them pre-fried. I chose to buy mine pre-fried to save me some time. I also included instructions in the recipe if you choose to fry them at home. If you don’t like tofu, leave it out of the dish.
• Shallot oil – This is the oil leftover from frying shallots. One thing I noticed about my pho recipe is it didn’t really have that oily richness traditional pho broths had. Traditional pho broths are made with fatty pieces of meat and bone which lend to that fatty mouth feel. Shallot oil seemed like a great substitute for that. You can make your own using my fried shallot recipe or you can buy shallot oil at Asian specialty grocery stores.
• Hoisin sauce and sriracha – These condiments are typically optional for traditional pho recipes, but I highly recommend it because they add umami flavor to the your noodle bowl. They also both happen to be vegan!

Fresh noodles vs dried noodles

I highly highly recommend using fresh noodles if you can find them because they taste so much better than dried noodles and they only take 2-3 minutes to cook. Dried noodles tend to taste more plastic-y for some brands and the noodles are not as tender. They also take a lot longer to cook. Fresh noodles, however, can be hard to find. I typically find mine at Asian grocery stores. I haven’t come across any at large Western grocery chains. My favorite brand of fresh noodles is Rama Foods (pictured above).

How to make vegan pho

Tips on how to make the perfect vegan pho

Broiling or charring the vegetables is important

A traditional pho broth has a slightly smoky flavor that comes from charring the aromatics (onion and ginger). It is even more important for vegan pho because charring the cabbage gives it a nice umami flavor as well.

Do not let the broth boil too much

One of the keys to a clear broth is to not let the broth boil too much. Let the broth simmer slowly throughout the entire cooking process.

Let the broth sit for at least an hour for the best flavor

This broth is done cooking after 50 minutes and you can certainly serve it at this point, but I found that letting it sit for at least an hour with all the aromatics yields a richer broth. This allows the ingredients to further flavor the broth.

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If you made this dish, I would love to see!

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