2 Simple and Delicious Vegetarian Pho Recipes to Make at Home for a Meatless Day

Prepare the ingredients

Peel the white radish, carrot, and cassava, wash them clean, drain, and cut into bite-sized pieces. Remove the husk from the corn and cut into pieces about 2 finger lengths.

Peel and slice the ginger. Peel the chayote, wash it clean, then cut it in half to remove the seed, and slice it.

Peel the onion. Clean the straw mushrooms and cut them in half.

Chop the coriander finely. Clean the herbs and bean sprouts, then drain. Clean the green onion and chop it finely.

Soak the vegetarian beef slices in warm water for 20 minutes to rehydrate, wash thoroughly, and squeeze out excess water.

Add the chopped green onion to a bowl, then add 1 teaspoon of vegetarian seasoning, 1 teaspoon of ground pepper, mix well, and marinate for about 10 minutes.

Fry tofu

Cut the fried tofu into bite-sized pieces. Cut the tofu skin into small square pieces.

Heat a pan on the stove, turn on medium heat, and add 100ml of cooking oil to cover the bottom of the pan.

When the oil is hot, add the tofu and fry until golden brown on all sides. If the pan is large, you can fry additional tofu skin until it puffs up evenly.

Once the tofu pieces are fried, remove them and cut them into pieces about 1/2 finger length.

Stir-fry the ingredients

Place a pan on the stove, add about 2 tablespoons (30ml) of cooking oil, and add chopped green onions, sautéing until fragrant.

Add straw mushrooms and beef slices, stir-frying for about 3 minutes, stirring constantly.

Add tofu to the pan, stir-fry, seasoning with 1 teaspoon of vegetarian seasoning, 1 teaspoon of pepper, and gently stir the ingredients to absorb the spices. Stir-fry for another 5 minutes and then turn off the heat.

Prepare the broth

Add onion and a few slices of ginger to the pan and roast until slightly golden and fragrant, then turn off the heat.

Place a pot on the stove, add 2.5 liters of filtered water, and bring to a boil over high heat.

Once boiling, reduce the heat, add daikon, carrot, corn, chayote, roasted onion, and ginger into the pot and simmer for about 1 hour to extract sweetness.

Add an additional teaspoon of salt. Be sure to skim off any foam regularly to keep the broth clear!

Completion

After simmering the vegetables for 1 hour, add the pho seasoning packet and cook for another 5 minutes.

Remove all the vegetables and pho spices from the pot.

Then, add all the previously sautéed ingredients into the pot, add the fried tofu sticks, and stir well.

Season with 2 teaspoons of vegetarian seasoning and 1 tablespoon of rock sugar, adjusting to your family’s taste.

Boil the broth for another 5 minutes before turning off the heat.

Final Product

When serving, place the bean sprouts at the bottom, then add the pho into a bowl, pour hot broth over it, and sprinkle some chopped cilantro on top to make the dish more appealing.

The vegetarian pho is delicious, light, with naturally sweet vegetable broth and tasty mushrooms, served with crispy fried tofu sticks, truly irresistible, right?

Prepare ingredients

First, for the napa cabbage you bought, remove the base, soak it in diluted salt water for 5 – 7 minutes, then rinse it several times with clean water, cut into pieces, and let it drain.

For the white radish, chayote, and jicama, use a peeling knife to peel the skin, rinse directly under running water until clean, cut into pieces, and let it drain.

Next, for the shiitake mushrooms, cut off the stems, and for the straw mushrooms, cut off the black parts on the surface, then soak them in 1 tablespoon of diluted tapioca flour for 7 – 10 minutes. After that, rinse them 2 – 3 times with clean water, and let them drain.

For the white reishi mushrooms, remove the stems, wash them clean, and let them drain. Clean the green onions, let them drain, chop half of them into small pieces, and finely chop the remaining half. Finally, for the sugar cane, simply peel the skin, then use a knife to cut it into small pieces.

Sauté the ingredients

After preparing, place a pan on the stove with 2 grams of fennel seeds, 8 cloves, 5 grams of cinnamon, 3 grams of star anise, and 2 cardamom pods, and roast for about 3 – 5 minutes over low heat.

When the ingredients release a fragrant aroma, turn off the heat and transfer them to a plate.

Cooking the broth

Next, place another pot on the stove with 3 tablespoons of cooking oil and the finely chopped green onions to sauté until fragrant over medium heat.

Then, add 100g of thin tofu skin and 200g of fried tofu, using a ladle to stir well for 3 minutes, then continue to add 60g of shiitake mushrooms and 60g of oyster mushrooms and stir-fry for another 3 minutes.

Next, add all the broth you just cooked, 2 liters of water, 20g of white reishi mushrooms, 1.5 teaspoons of salt, 1.5 teaspoons of vegetarian seasoning, and 2 tablespoons of sugar, cooking for about 10 minutes.

Once the broth comes to a boil again, taste and adjust the seasoning as needed.

Blanching the pho and completing the dish

At the same time, place another pot on the stove with 300ml of water over high heat. Once the water boils, add 200g of pho noodles and blanch for about 2 – 3 minutes, then remove and drain.

Finally, prepare a bowl and layer in a little pho noodles, the broth you just made along with straw mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, white reishi mushrooms, thin tofu skin, and fried tofu to enjoy right away!

Final Product

The vegetarian mushroom pho with hot broth, sweet and light from various vegetables is truly on par with other savory dishes!

Each white noodle strand is intertwined with crunchy and sweet mushrooms, chewy tofu skin, and fatty tofu, which is absolutely wonderful!

Additionally, you can prepare some green onions, cilantro, and chili peppers to make your vegetarian mushroom pho even more perfect!