Vietnamese Pho Recipe - Vegetarian or Non-Vegetarian Options
Vietnamese Pho - Vegetarian and Non-Vegetarian - is a great gluten-free noodle dish since it's made with rice noodles. The rich soothing broth is the key to a good Pho so take the time to make homemade broth before adding other ingredients.
½ccilantro, roots, stems and leaves roughly chopped
1tablespoonsoy sauce
16oz Rice Noodles
For Topping
1cBean Sprouts
¼cthai basil
2thinly sliced scallions
¼cchopped cilantro
1Lime wedge
1headBok Coyoptional
1cSnow Peasoptional
1cEnoki Mushroomsoptional
1cShiitake Mushroomsoptional
2medcarrotsjulienned, optional
Non-Vegetarian Pho Topping
thinly sliced Eye Round
1lb.Shrimp
1lb.cooked chicken breast
Instructions
In a large stock pot, put broth ingredients except "water" and "broth" and roast them on high heat until it starts to smoke a bit. Don't burn them. They should be just hot enough to start smoking in the pot. When it starts to smoke, add the rest of the broth ingredients and stir for about 2 minutes.
Then, add 4 Cups of water and 4 cups of homemade or store bought vegetable broth. If non-vegetarian, use chicken or beef broth.
Let broth come to a boil.
Simmer for an hour.
While the broth is simmering, bring a large pot of water to a boil.
Add rice noodles to the pot and boil for about 6-8 minutes or until cooked. When they are done, strain the noodles.
After the broth has simmered for about an hour, add the topping vegetables, right before servingIf you add them too early, greens will turn brown. Not pretty. Of course, if you want to any other kinds of veggies, that's up to you. The original Pho only uses bean sprouts.
Put the rice noodles in a bowl, add broth, bean sprouts, Thai Basil, scallions and cilantro as garnish.
Squeeze lime juice before serving.
Non-Vegetarian Pho
For any non-vegetarian options, make your own broth by simmering bones for at least 4 hours, while discarding the brown scum so the broth is clear and without impurities.
Seafood stock is easy to make and you can use shrimp as the meat of choice.
Chicken stock is easy to make and adding cooked chicken as topping is delicious too.