A Gorgeous Bowl of Vietnamese Pho

I had the most amazing bowl of Thupka at the IFBM2014 meet at the Aloft Bengaluru CBP. It takes a great amount of courage to host the first Food bloggers meet in India and pull it off with such grace and ease. The hospitality was top notch and the each meal was themed food. The underlying theme was street food- Mumbai, Kolkatta and Chennai. My favourite was the Kolkatta Street food theme that I wrote about here. I love Bengali food. The star dish was however not of Bengali origin but more a Nepalese - Tibetian dish called the thupka which travels further east to places like Vietnam and becomes the pho.  The thupka is a close relative of the pho where they both are broth based, with noodles or momos or dumplings and veggie toppings with various sauces and oils. Both are great winter day comfort foods and both require a certain amount of slurping.

The thupka that started it all..

Mr. Fox is in Vietnam and I am totally jealous of all the delicious food he is eating especially the abundance of true and original Pho {pronounced fuh}. My love affair with pho started on cold to the bone Chicago winter days when the only thing that could warm you up was the hot bowl of pho made by the Vietnamese aunty in the restaurant down the street from me. I would always order the beef pho and slowly slurp the beautiful anise flavoured broth, twirling my fork in the noodles. 

So what is Pho- its a Vietnamese rice noodle dish consisting of noodles, broth and usually chicken or beef. For the vegetarian version one can use tofu, paneer or mushrooms. 

So here is my take on the pho. Its vegetarian since mom is vegetarian. Its a 4 step preparation:

1. The broth
2. The topping 
3. The garnishes
4. The noodle

INGREDIENTS FOR THE BROTH

1 Onion peeled and halved

1 ginger root (2 inches) halved

1 anise star

2-3 cinnamon sticks (preferably Saigan variety- I used Kerala variety)

5-6 cloves

1 tspn corriander seeds

1 tspn fennel seeds

black cardomom

4 carrots roughly chopped

2 tbsp soya sauce

INGREDIENTS FOR THE TOPPINGS

1 med sized Onion sliced

Ginger sliced

5-6 Large garlic cloves peeled

sesame seeds

Oyster mushrooms soaked for an hour

Carrots/ Paneer/ Cauliflower/ Corn (All of these or any of these)

INGREDIENTS FOR THE GARNISHES

Sliced green chillies or thai bird eye chillies (depending on heat preference)

Sliced tomato in 8ths

Coriander leaves washed and stemmed (handful)

Mint leaves washed and stemmed (handful)

2-3 spring onions sliced thin

1 lime quartered

hoisin sauce

 A dash of sesame oil

1 tbsp vinegar

THE NOODLES: Linguine rice noodles, flat noodles, glass noodles, {I used egg hakka noodles (not a crime but would rather use rice noodles as it soaks the broth better}

HOW TO MAKE THE BROTH

Start making the broth a few hours in advance and let it simmer slowly. The more it simmers the more flavourful it gets. 

1. Start with charring the onion on the stove top 
2. Then char the ginger
3. Now in a pot dry roast the spices till they release their aroma
4. Add vegetable stock or water around 1.5 ltrs
5. Add the onion, ginger and chopped carrots
6. Add 2 tbsp of soya sauce
7. Cover and let it simmer for a few hours. Add water if it reduces too much.

Char the onion on a low flame

Char the ginger

Wash the onion and ginger

Boiling the carrots, onions, ginger along with the spices on a low flame for a couple of hours

PREPARE THE TOPPINGS, GARNISHES & NOODLES

1. In some oil, saute the sliced onions, ginger and garlic and sesame seeds.
2. Add the oyster mushrooms
3. Add the other veggies such as corn, cauliflower, carrots
4. If using tofu or paneer- cut in cubes and suate separately till they have a nice brown skin
5. Finely chop the Thai red chilli and add to a bit of vinegar and soya sauce
6. Arrange all the toppings and garnishes on a pretty plate as shown in the picture
7. In boiling water (separate from the broth), cook the noodles for a few minutes till al dente

Sliced onions, ginger and garlic 

Saute the onions, ginger and garlic in sesame seeds and add the oyster mushrooms and cauliflower

Prepare the Thai Birds eye chili in vinegar and soya sauce. Handle carefully this will burn your fingers and your mouth

Oyster mushroom saute, sliced tomato, sliced spring onions, quartered limes, a mix of fresh coriander and mint leaves

ASSEMBLING THE PHO

1. In a bowl start with some noodles 
2. Add the toppings such as the oyster mushrooms, corn, paneer or tofu
3. Add some hot broth to this
4. Garnish with spring onions, tomatoes, cilantro and mint leaves
5. Squeeze a good amount of lime
6. Add a generous dash of the Thai chilli vinegar sauce
7. Add a not so generous dash of sesame oil
8. Curl up on your comfy chair and enjoy your hot bowl of pho

Noodles and corn in a bowl

Add the oyster mushroom mix

Pour the hot broth in the noodle bowl. Look at how meaty that oyster mushroom looks. 

Decorate with garnishes such as tomato, spring onion, cilantro and mint. Such a beauty

This gorgeous bowl of Vietnamese inspired pho.

This gorgeous bowl of pho almost gone. 

The broth has the delicate five spice flavours with the warmth of anise and cinnamon. The oyster mushrooms are a great replacement for the meaty beef or chicken.  I love my pho spicy so I added a whole bunch of Thai chilli in it. The lime adds this lovely tanginess to the whole thing. The noodles are mild but add the starch to the otherwise very light and yummy brthy soup. Though it has many steps, this dish is super easy to make and is such a crowd pleaser. 

A great rainy day or sweater weather dish and how perfect is this song for this gorgeous bowl of pho by The Neighbourhood