Vietnamese Pho Rau

Who doesn't love pho?

I have had a love affair with this subtle broth since the first time I laid eyes on it about 4 years ago. 

My boyfriend and I try and "out spice" each other on a regular basis and one day while enjoying our soup at our favourite restaurant, I went for NEXT LEVEL spicy! 

I think I put 5 or 6 scoops of chilli paste into my bowl. When I finished adding my hoi sin, bean shoots and thai basil I tasted................

It was sooo hot I got a nose bleed (I'm not kidding). My nose bled for a good 15 minutes, while my mouth was on fire. 

It was an ordeal but I got over it and got right back on the horse. Since then we have been eating pho about twice a week. 

This is the first time I have attempted to make it myself.
It is super simple and worth the small effort.


Pho Rau (mixed vegetable Pho, with Tofu)

Ingredients:

1 brown onion
8 cloves of garlic
A big piece of ginger
2 cinnamon sticks
3 Star anise
3 cloves
8 cups of vegetable stock
3 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 Tablespoon brown sugar

1 Pkt dry asian rice noodles
1 250g block hard tofu or fried tofu
2 carrots
3 Button mushrooms

Condiments:

2 spring onions
Bean sprouts
Herbs of your choice (mint, thai basil, coriander)
Lime wedges
Hoi sin sauce
Hot chilli sauce or chilli oil

Method:

In a large saucepan place roughly chopped onion, garlic, roughly chopped ginger, cinnamon, star anise and cloves. Heat in pan until fragrant and starting to brown. Cover with stock and soy sauce and simmer for about 30 minutes. Add sugar and stir well.
Strain the vegetables from the soup into another pot and set aside.
Prepare carrots and mushrooms by chopping roughly. Cut tofu into large chunks.
Cover rice noodles with boiling water and let sit for 5 minutes. Once soft add to 4 bowls.
Add carrot, mushrooms and tofu to the bowls and cover with the hot broth.
Serve on the table along side all the condiments. Make it as spicy as you can handle!!

Note: Don't get a blood nose!

We ate Pho once while we were in Vietnam and it was actually good. It was really hard to find Vegetable Pho as it is all Pho Bo- beef or Pho Ga- chicken. We managed to find a great vegetarian restaurant in Hoi An and they had Pho Rau  on their menu.