Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Daring Cooks -- Vegan Pho


The October 2009 Daring Cooks’ challenge was brought to us by Jaden of the blog Steamy Kitchen. The recipes are from her new cookbook, The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook.

I like Pho, but this is the first time I've made it at home. I made a vegan version which is basically the fragrant broth and some noodles, topped with red onion, bean sprouts and lime--no cilantro since I loathe the taste of it and am quite convinced that it's the work of the devil.

I used a long-cooking homemade stock as the base for this recipe. When I make stock I usually make a large quantity and freeze individual portions. For the stock: Clean and roughly chop 1 big bunch of carrots, 1 bunch of celery, 2 or 3 onions, a little garlic, and usually about 8 ounces of mushrooms--fresh and dried. Put the veggies in a big pot and cover with a few inches of water. Add a bay leaf, a big pinch of salt, and some whole black pepper. Sometimes, if I want a dark, strongly flavored stock I'll add a few splashes of Braggs. I'm not exactly sure what Braggs is, but it has a soy sauce-ish taste and seems to be a flavor enhancer. You can find it at health food stores. Bring the water to a boil and then simmer for at least an hour--longer is better. You really want to get all the possible flavor out of the vegetables. Let the stock cool a little and then strain.


Please visit Jaden's awesome blog, and check-out all the wonderful Pho versions at The Daring Kitchen.

http://steamykitchen.com/

4 comments:

  1. So many of my American cookery books mention Braggs and I often wondered what it was. I always guessed it was a vegetarian version of worcestrshire sauce which contains anchovies, but I guess it is something different.

    What would you say would be a good alternative for Braggs in the U.K if i was to use make an American recipe requiring it?

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  2. I'm not a cilantro fan either. I accidentally bought it instead of flat-leaf parsley once. I was so disappointed when I took it out of the bag and got a whiff of it!

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  3. I like pho and I'm sorry I missed yet another daring cooks challenge.

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  4. Mango--maybe a dark soy sauce? It's salty, quite like soy.

    Jill-just thinking about cilantro makes me gag.

    Thanks Wendy!

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