Vegan Pho

Pho.
It's a trendy food right now, and to most it seems rather complicated...and we're all willing to pay nine dollars a pop for a bowl? Well, you need not, my friends. You can make this entire soup for less than nine bucks, I betya

The broth:
7 or 8 cups of your homemade** veggie broth :)
Pho seasoning: clove, coriander seed, fennel seed, cinnamon, star anise, cardamom, licorice (You can get a packet that makes 6 cups of broth at any Asian grocery for about $1.95)
2 carrots, chopped coarsely
1/2 onion, chopped coarsely
3 cloves of garlic, chopped coarsely
1 "thumb" size piece of ginger, chopped coarsely
1/2 a lime, cute into pieces
3 tablespoons of tamari
Salt, to taste, after it has simmered

Toppings:
7 ounces of rice noodles
7 ounces of cubed tofu
1/2 cup of shredded red cabbage
sprigs of cilantro
sprigs of basil
1/2 lime, cut into wedges
One handful of bean sprouts

Prep all of your broth ingredients and put them in a pot, turning them on high to bring them to a boil. Once boiling, cover and simmer for 45 minutes to an hour.

While your broth is simmering, prep your toppings.

I fried my tofu in a cast iron pan with some cilantro, salt and pepper.

I then chopped my green onions, shredded my cabbage and readied the cilantro, lime and basil (the bean sprouts are not pictured, because it seems if you leave your bean sprouts in the fridge for longer than 6 hours, they turn into complete mush...)

At this point, your broth should start looking like this:

Taste your broth and see if you might like to add some more salt, tamari or lime juice

Next, boil your rice noodles. Your rice noodles may have varying directions, I put mine in boiling water for about 6 minutes and then drained them. Rinse them with mild temperature water after draining them, or they will stick together. 

Once your broth has simmered for at least 45 minutes, strain out the solids.

You are now ready to serve!

Portion out a large amount of rice noodles into a bowl, followed by tofu, green onions, cabbage, bean sprouts, cilantro, basil and lime juice. Ladle your broth over the top and serve! You may like srirachi or extra tamari at the serving table.

XO