Plant based pho, a vegan alternative to the beefy original Recipe on Food52 (2024)

Author Notes

I think if I was on death row and had to pick my last meal, it would be Pho. Traditionally a long simmered, complicated, meat a thon, it is AWESOME(Imagine that last sentence spoken in Oprah’s voice for full impact)! I usually order the #2…that’s basically the whole kitchen sink without the meatballs….never developed a taste for those. So it’s full of tripe, tendon, and the whole animal, which I think is great, waste not want not. I have done a chicken version and now this is a plant based version. Pho is all about the broth….that being said, a vegan version could pose a challenge, the vegetarian option at my local pho hut, is chicken broth based…haha! So I have been given a challenge….I researched, I shopped, read some “easy” recipes, that being said, I came up with my own, and even cooked some leeks, sh*take, and rutabaga, in the same fashion as the meat, to add to the richness and mouth feel. This isn’t really simple nor easy, but the best things in life don’t come easy! —Alexandra V. Jones

What You'll Need

Ingredients

• Broth
• 2 shallots, charred in a hot pan
  
• 3 inch piece of ginger, charred in a hot pan
  
• 1 stem lemongrass, smashed with the back of knife
  
• 1 ouncedried porcini mushrooms
  
• 8 sh*take mushrooms, stems removed
  
• 1 Leek, tough part removed and cleaned well
  
• 3 cloves of garlic, smashed
  
• 1 rib celery
  
• 1 tablespoonMrs. Dash or other salt free seasoning, this is used to replace MSG
  
• 3 tablespoonsBragg's liquid aminos, or soy sauce
  
• 10 cupswater
  
• 1 pinchsalt
  
• 1 pinchpepper
  
• 1 tablespoonhoney
  
• 2 carrots
  
• 2-4 cloves garlic
  
• 1 rutabaga
  
• 2 ribs celery
  

• Baked Hoison tofu, noodles and other toppings
• 1 poundfirm tofu, drained and pressed of excess moisture
  
• 1 tablespoonHoison sauce
  
• 1 tablespoonBragg's liquid aminos, or soy sauce
  
• 8 ouncesbrown rice noodles
  
• 1 bunchcilantro
  
• 1 bunchbasil leaves
  
• 1 lime, cut into eight pieces
  
• 2 cupsmung bean sprouts
  
• 1 jalapeno, sliced thin
  
• 1 other chili sauces such as sciracha, chili paste, hoison, whatever you like
  
• 2 radishes thinly sliced