Origin of Pho Broth or Pho Soup
Pho soup is a Vietnamese noodle soup that feature an array of aromatic fresh vegetables and are steeped to create a brothy delicacy. Pho dates back to somewhere around 1880 where it is believed to be a fusion of French and Chinese cuisine and originated in Northern Vietnam. It is pronounced FA not Fo with a soft A.
Rice noodles versus wheat noodles
It usually contains thinly sliced beef or chicken in a seasoned broth. Pho soups use a rice noodle and onions and herb to layer a delicious light noodle soup. The Vietnamese Rice Noodle differs greatly from the Chinese noodle which are wheat flour based.
The spices that help give it that unique taste are star anise, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and black pepper. Learning flavor profiles like this one can bring lots of variety to your meals. Think about what this would be without the unique blend of spices. You would have chicken noodle soup. As a result of this unique blend of spices, it takes on a completely different flavor profile. There are some substitutions you can make to keep the flavor and taste the same, for instance, star anise is very similar to fennel.
Daikon radish, onions and carrots are also used to flavor the broth. Some other optional items are fish sauce, Rock sugar, MSG or sugar but not too much.
Slow cooking this broth is also an option and will not hurt the flavors. Some of the original Pho recipes had ox tail or other low cuts of meat so slow cooking was a great way to pull out the bone marrow.
Noodle preparation
When you broth is close to done you can cook the noodles. Follow the direction which should direct you to steeping them in a bowl with hot water for 8-10 minutes until softened. Be cautious not to over cook. Remember it is going into hot broth which will continue the cooking process a bit.
Finishing touches
Another addition to finish it off would sliced lime, gingers and cinnamon or sweet basil, cilantro, bean sprouts, green onions and optional of course chili peppers. All these accouterments can be added right at the end or on the table for guests to top off their serving themselves.
Some of our other favorites include:
Give this and our other recipes a try and have a flavorful assorted of prepared soups ready to enjoy anytime.
Freezing Soups:
Freezing extra soup can be a real time saver but what is the best way? One way I like to freeze soups is in a freezer bag. You fill a freezer bag with either a single or double serving of soup. I lay the freezer bags on a flat baking sheet or some type of tray that will keep them soups from sliding. Putting a paper towel in between the “layers” of soup will make it easier to separate the soups once they are frozen. This works best if you are stacking several bags at once in the freezer. Once the soups are frozen it is very easy to stand the soups up and create a book shelf of different soups. This makes grabbing one easier and you can see your inventory at a glance.
Remember to always leave room for expansion in any container you are using to freeze soups.
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Original Beef Pho Soup with rice noodles.
Vegan Pho Soup
Ingredients
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 3 cups water
- 1 large white onion
- 1/4 cup fresh ginger
- 3 pods of star anise
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon whole cloves
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- optional 1 serving nori or wakame seaweed
- 12 oz flat rice noodles
- 1/4 cup fresh mint basil, and/or cilantro
- 1-2 red or green chilies
- 4 green onions
- 3 limes
Instructions
- First, cut a white onion into quarters and loosely chop about 1/4 cup of fresh ginger root. Add these to your oven’s broiler until the outside layers are nearly charred. You could just throw these raw ingredients into the broth, but taking this extra step develops much deeper and more complex flavors in the final broth. Trust me, it’s worth it.
- Then, throw all the following ingredients into a large stockpot and allow to simmer for 60-90 minutes: 4 cups of vegetable broth, 3 cups of water, the charred onion, the charred ginger, 3 whole star anise, 1 whole cinnamon stick, 1 teaspoon fennel seeds, 1/2 teaspoon whole cloves, 3 tablespoons of soy sauce, and 1 sheet of nori or another type of seaweed (these last two ingredients help emulate the flavors of fish sauce, which we’re obviously not adding in our vegan version).
- Finally, let this simmer for an hour or more, uncovered, before giving the broth a taste. If it needs more salt or anything else, don’t be afraid to add it here. Lastly, use a kitchen strainer to pour the broth into a separate container, discarding the vegetables and spices.
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