Vegan Pho with Scratch-Made Broth (Pho Chay)

Vegan pho in a bowl next to herbs, hoisin sauce, and sriracha sauce.

5 from 6 ratings

Vegan Pho with Scratch-Made Broth (Pho Chay)

This vegan pho recipe includes a homemade vegan broth that tastes eerily similar to beef pho broth. The entire recipe also takes just an hour to make!

Prep Time10

Cook Time50

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Vietnamese

Diet: Vegan, Vegetarian

Keyword: pho chay, vegan pho, vegan pho recipe, vegetarian pho, vegetarian pho recipe

Servings: people

Calories: 852kcal

Author: Becca Du

Ingredients

Broth

1 cabbage quartered
1 yellow onion
1 piece ginger 3 inch piece
8 oz shiitake mushrooms
5 sticks celery
3 carrots
4 cloves garlic
1 daikon cut into 2 inch pieces
32 oz vegetable broth
6 cups water
2 tsp salt
¼ cup soy sauce
1 tsp granulated sugar

Spices

Noodle Bowl

1 ½ lbs pho noodles see note 4
8 oz fried tofu homemade or store bought
2 oz enoki mushrooms optional
¼ cup green onions thinly sliced
¼ cup cilantro minced
¼ cup mint optional
1 cup bean sprouts optional
1 lime cut into wedges
2 tbsp shallot oil optional but recommended, see note 5
¼ cup hoisin sauce
¼ cup sriracha

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat the oven to broil (~550 degrees F/288 degrees C).
Cut 1 cabbage into 4 pieces and place on a baking sheet. Add the onion and ginger to the baking sheet. Broil for 10 minutes until the edges are slightly charred.
Add 3 star anise, 2 cinnamon sticks, 2 tsp of fennel seeds, and 2 tsp of coriander seeds to a small pan. Toast for 30 seconds to a minute until the spices are fragrant. Place them in the center of a 5x5 inch piece of cheese cloth. Tie the corners together to create a spice pouch, and set aside.
Place the cabbage, onion, and ginger in a large soup pot. Follow with the toasted spices, 8 oz of shiitake mushrooms, 5 celery sticks, 3 carrots, 4 cloves of garlic, 1 daikon, 1 quart of vegetable broth, 6 cups of water, and 2 tsp of salt.
Bring to a simmer and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove the shiitake mushrooms and set aside. Continue simmering for 30 minutes.
While the soup is simmering, prep the rest of your ingredients. Boil the pho noodles and enoki mushrooms. Enoki mushrooms should be boiled for 30 seconds. Slice the green onions and cilantro, and fry the tofu. To fry the tofu: First, pat the tofu dry. Heat up vegetable oil to 356 degrees F and fry it on all sides until golden brown. Season with salt and set aside.
Once the soup is done simmering, add ¼ cup of soy sauce and 1 tsp of granulated sugar. Simmer for another 10 minutes before removing the soup from the heat. Taste the soup, and if it tastes bland, add more salt.
Remove all the ingredients from the broth, and prepare to serve. I like to do this with a fine mesh sieve.
Now it's time to assemble your noodle bowl! First, add a few handfuls of noodles to the bowl. Follow with the fried tofu, shiitake mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, green onions, cilantro, mint, and bean sprouts. Ladle soup over the top, and finally, finish with a squeeze of lime, a drizzle of shallot oil, hoisin sauce, and sriracha. Enjoy!

Video

Notes

Do not let the broth boil too much. One of the keys to this broth is not let the broth boil too much. Simmering the broth leads to a clearer broth.
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.
Customize the toppings to your preferences. You don't have to include every single topping in your pho. Pick and choose the ones you like. A simplified version could be noodles, shiitake mushrooms, fried tofu, cilantro and green onions.
Use fresh noodles if you can find them. I highly recommend fresh pho noodles for the best flavor. I personally like the noodles from Rama Foods.
Shallot oil. Shallot oil is the oil leftover from frying shallots. Optional but highly recommended.
Storage Instructions. The components of the dish should be stored separately. The broth, noodles, and cooked toppings should last up to 3 days in the fridge in airtight containers. Vegetables can last up to a week.

Nutrition