I've got all these pictures of squash ravioli and soup that we made back in the fall when the farm share was raining squashes upon us, but I have lost motivation to post them. Perhaps you shall be rewarded with a squash post sometime in the near future. For now, I have promised my good pal Kyle that I would flog about Vietnamese noodle soup, so here it is.
I grew up with the wonderful smell of pho permeating the house, so to avoid ruining my childhood by screwing this up, the first time I ever made the stuff by myself, I emailed my mom about 3000 times asking questions. Here's the veganized version of my mom's pho recipe (let's skip over the fact that the veganization of this recipe might horrify my mom). The units are of course mom-style (i.e. there's no precise measurements), so you'll have to experiment a bit.
Ingredients:
onions, ginger, stock veggies, anise stars, rice noodles, green onion, cilantro, bean sprouts, lemon or lime slices, preferred protein, Sriracha and hoisin sauce.
1) Peel and halve a bunch of onions and slice some ginger lengthwise to expose the fleshy bits. Roast onions and ginger at about 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes. This step makes your house smell like heaven.
2) While the stuff is roasting, prepare the rest of your stock veggies (and chicken and beef bones if you're not veg). I've had good success with rutabaga (What the hell else is this disgusting turnipy horror good for? I welcome any recipes that will convince me it doesn't suck), carrots, and broccoli stems. Peel and dice to a size that allows for maximal surface area exposure to water without being so small it disintegrates after 5 minutes of cooking.
3) When roasting is done, toss the onions and ginger into the stock pot with all your veggies as well as a handful of anise stars. The anise stars in combination with the roasted onion and ginger really make it. Fill 'er up with water.
4) Let heat to a boil, then lower to a simmer. Simmer for a few hours. This step continues the "house smells awesome" trend.
5) While stock is going, prepare the rest: cook rice noodles, chop green onion and cilantro, prepare protein (I usually use some sort of tofu or "chicken").
6) Drain stock into another pot and season. I usually add some salt or soy sauce (fish sauce if you're not veg) and a bit of sugar to taste.
7) Serve broth over rice noodles. Let people dress their own bowls, and use Sriracha and hoisin for dipping.
Pic-tors!
And a bonus picture of the salsa I made with some of the leftovers from dinner (canned tomatoes, finely sliced onion, cilantro, lemon juice, hot sauce, salt, sugar.
3 comments:
Wow! I am going to attempt this possibly. I just had my first pho ever about a week ago and it was amazing. (Insert brief story about how the only good restaurant in Tallahassee is Vietnamese) Anyways, I hope all is well with you it was a blast seeing you this summer and your culinary expertise inspired me to buy my own cast iron skillet. :-)
Cast iron skillets are freakin' awesome. Are you enjoying it so far?
Also- it's a good idea to make the stock on a weekend when you have a bunch of time, and then break it out for a super-quick but delicious dinner during the week. You can make about 3 pots worth of stock with one go of veggies.
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