Pho (pronounced ‘fuh’ ) is a popular Vietnamese traditional soup made by simmering beef bones, oxtails, flank steak, charred onion, charred ginger and spices. A fragrant broth served with flat rice noodles, chilli oil and herbs.

Whilst, at the time of writing, I have not yet been to Vietnam, only visited a  Vietnamese restaurant in Budapest that my Vietnamese friends called the best in the city, but I can tell that pho is one of the best dishes to warm your soul. Since I have Celiacs disease and eat mostly vegan, and at the moment I stay in a rural area where there isn’t any Vietnamese restaurant nearby, I decided to make my own GF vegan mushroom pho version.

Ingredients for 2 person:

3 cups water

3 cups veggie broth

1 can of mushrooms (200g)

1 onion, cut in half

1 large clove of garlic, minced

2 bay leaves

¼ cup Tamari sauce

fresh grated ginger (about a 2 cm knob)

3 teaspoons Lime juice

200g shredded cabbage or bok choi

200g extra firm tofu

1/2 package rice noodles

1 medium sized red paprika, cut into thin slices

2 green onions, cut into rounds

1 cinnamon stick

2 star anise

1 tsp peppercorns

chili paste according to taste

3-5 cloves

1 ts coriander powder

Place a large pot over a low heat. Add star anise, cinnamon stick, peppercorns, and cloves and toast until fragrant. This should take about 30 seconds or so.

Add the vegetable stock and water, onion, garlic, ginger, bay leaves, coriander  and the mushrooms. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes remove onion, anise, cinnamon stick, bay leaves and if you can cloves and peppercorns from the stock.

Add the bok choy or cabbage, paprika and cook for 5 minutes.

Cut your tofu into the desired shapes – I find that batons or tofu sticks or slices are easier to eat with chopsticks than cubed, but to each their own!

When the rice noodles are done, taste and adjust flavors with tamari sauce, lime juice and chili paste.

Garnish with green onions.