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Wow, Tiffany, a “pho pun”, how original. I know, right? Have I devolved into dad jokes? Never, because I’m too hilarious for that. I just had to, because I’m finally publishing my 100% vegan pho recipe. Told you I’d never forget you. I took a really long hiatus, but I’m present, I promise. I even added a bunch of new albums in the gallery – granted half of them are from last year. It’s been a busy year, get off my back, y’all!! I’ll get around to my European photos by the end of this month…I hope.. Anyway, back to the pho: whether you’re a meat eater or not, it’s a scrumptious recipe, so you can take your reservations & judgment & shove it right up your hairy nose holes. Pho is pronounced “fuh?” not “foe”. Source: I’m Vietnamese. There’s a question mark to indicate that you’re supposed to raise your voice as if you’re asking a question. In Vietnamese, pho has two question marks on the “O”, so trust me & lower your inquisitive eyebrow. If you’re an avid meat eater & think the idea of pho being vegan is absurd, you better swipe left right on out of here. Vietnam is known as one of the least religious countries in the world as its main “religion” aka folklore/cultural beliefs is heavily influenced by Taoism, Confucianism, & Buddhism. Many Buddhists are vegetarian/vegan, thus the meat-free versions of Vietnamese cuisine is 1 trillion times better than any quinoa kale salad you’ve ever had. There are lots of great vegetarian restaurants in Vietnam, so open your minddDdddD.
In my last post, I had a little aside/rant on so-called “vegan pho” recipes that didn’t use the correct noodles &/or the absolutely necessary spices. The reason I get my panties all in a bunch over this is analogous to sitting in a restaurant, ordering a vegetable curry with Jasmine rice, but receiving mushy fruits (not vegetables) in soy sauce (not curry) with couscous (not Jasmine rice). “Pho” does not mean noodle in Vietnamese, “bun” does (pronounced boon?). Pho is a type of rice noodle. Pho is only one type of Viet noodle soup dish. Yes, sweetie, we (my Viet peoplez) have a BUNCH & they’re all delicious. So expand your horizons, try another noodle soup besides ramen sometime, & fall in love. So simple. Additionally, using the correct type of noodle is important to enjoying pho because it completely changes the flavor profile if you use others & also changes the mouthfeel experience. Shout out to my favorite fictional foodie, Detective Boyle for emphasizing the importance of mouthfeel.
You can use thicker pho noodles, but you should not be using udon, ramen, bean thread, or any other type of noodles. If you’re unfamiliar with Vietnamese cuisine, Serious Eats made the perfect list of some of the best Viet food. Enough talking, let’s get down to some photastic photos. Aaaannnnnndddd & I’m a dad. Congrats to me. It’s a girl.
Pho Chay (Vegan Pho)
Just to warn anyone who wants to embark on this journey of making pho chay, my recipe takes a long time. Most Viet restaurants that have pho chay as an option will pretty much slap together vegetable broth, noodles, & some vegetables. I’ve fed this exact recipe to a bunch of people & I’ve gotten positive feedback! Staring at these photos is making me really crave it again, so I guess I’ll be having this on the weekend.
Photos + Recipe
- Pho Chay (Vegan Pho) Recipe
- Thailand: Day 4
- Thailand: Day 5
- Thailand: Day 6
- Vietnam: Day 1
- Seabirds Kitchen
- Aquarium
- Brunch
I love the pho pun! XD It’s perfect for this post π Pho sounds so good right now since it’s no longer hot here! I could go for a nice bowl right now. And yes to authentic food and spices! When I order food in a restaurant and get a dish that uses odd replacement, it annoys me greatly!
There are definitely many kinds of noodles. I’m discovering a lot of the different Korean ones lately, and I’m especially loving the buckwheat ones a lot!
Thanks for sharing the vegan pho recipe π I’ll definitely use this as a resource if I want vegan pho! ^_^ It’s good seeing a post from you, Tiff!
What’s the oddest replacement you’ve ever encountered? I love hearing about these stories!!
Remind me if you were a fan of noodles before or if you’re just now getting into it! I know your favorite is mul naengmyeon & mine is bibim. π What’s your new favorite buckwheat Korean noodle dish now? π
You’re welcome! I have to eventually make my rounds again & visit everyone. Thanks for stopping by, Tara!!
I am discovering that maemil guksu isn’t so bad at all! Especially when I put in a ton of nori/gim, haha! I also discovered janchi guksu, and that’s pretty good, too π
Tiffany! Welcome back and thank you so much for this vegan (yaaay) pho recipe!
I’ve got it bookmarked ^__^
Sometimes I laugh so hard of how people pronounce ‘pho’ π like…
Xx Ice Pandora
Hi Mei! You’re welcome! It’s nice to be back. π Hope all is well with you!
I obviously pronounce it in the most Vietnamese way possible & no one who isn’t Viet knows what I’m saying…same thing goes with when I say, “banh mi” too. There’s a food truck in Boston called Bon Me, so people naturally think it’s said like “bon”. I honestly can’t even figure out how to phonetically spell it out either haha!
you made a good joke, pho-sho! π
i, once again, made the wrong choice to visit your blog in the middle of the night when i’m hungry. dang it, Y U COOK SO MUCH lol jk. it’s sad to know that in indonesia, there aren’t a lot of good vietnamese restaurants. there are a few but they don’t do terrific vietnamese food. their pho isn’t as good, even though i have never tasted the real deal from vietnam but i’m sure they’re much much muuuuuuch better (duuh!)
i’ve been wandering though …since you’re technically a chef (shush, no denying), do you bake a lot too? i’d love to see more baking / sweets / dessert recipe in the future (if you like baking, that is)…probably a vietnamese dessert or something? haha
I thought I replied to you, but I guess I was in the middle of typing out my comment while I was at work, hah.
Anyway, I’m so glad you like my food photos though. Vietnamese food is pretty easy to mess up. It’s unfortunate you’ve had some bad bowls of pho in your life!! π You are pretty close to Vietnam though. Definitely a great place to visit any time of the year–probably not during summer though…because it’s too hot, so I take that back–to vacation on the beaches & eat some good food!
So, I’m a terrible baker. That’s why there aren’t any desserts on here that really require baking…at least just one or two haha. But I’ve gotten better at making cookies, so I might add a cookie recipe in the future. I just don’t like baking as much as I like cooking. Baked goods tend not to be very healthy–always depends on what you’re baking of course–but I’ve never been the biggest fan of baked goods (in that I don’t seek them out)! So, that explains a lot.
I love love LOVE pho! It’s probably the dish that has opened my mind to different kinds of food more than any and I can’t wait to try our recipe. Because, well, your recipes are legit. Like, legit legit.
Aww Joy, that’s so sweet of you to say. π I’m glad you like them & I hope this recipe turns out well for you!
This post made me laugh. I do however agree with you on the proper use of noodles. There is a reason each Asian soup has its own noodles. This reminds me of a new “Ramen” restaurant that opened in the neighborhood and people were all excited. I didn’t really get why, considering that we already have a really good Ramen place where the owner and the chef are both Japanese. Anyway, I decided to try this new place which promised new variations on the Ramen dish. Call it modern, but to me it was total garbage. I wondered for a moment what the chef (a Thai) was thinking when deciding to turn his failed Thai-restaurant into a Ramen place. Things like that frustrate the hell out of me.
You pho looks really delicious. I have been wanting to make one myself. I will give your recipe a try once I get all the ingredients together π
Kalieta | http://www.skatterednotesblog.com
What kind of noodles was he using?? You know you’ve found a quality ramen shop when they either make their own or they outsource it to a major company like Sun Noodle, to make their ramen noodles according to their own recipes for them. Otherwise, it’s just amateur hour. π
Thank you! It’s a lot of ingredients & definitely a weekend prep kind of dish because it can be kind of time consuming if you don’t prep all the veggies first!
i personally have never even tried anything vegan! on my bucketlist!
A lot of the food you eat is technically vegan, so that’s not true! But you should definitely give one of those vegan/vegetarian restaurants in your area a try. It might surprise you!
Pho puns are my favorite since I work at a Vietnamese restaurant haha.
The vegan pho looks so good! Our restaurant makes a vegetarian pho bowl, with a veggie broth. I think it’s vegan, although I’ve never tried it. I’m more into pho with beef broth, but I’m always down to try new things! Especially since I have to be cooking for myself now (I moved out recently).
I will be trying your recipe soon!