Hello everyone! Welcome back to my channel Vietnamese Noodle Soup (Phở) is an internationally acclaimed dish of Vietnam. Besides the traditional Beef Noodles, we also have other versions such as Chicken Noodles. How about Vegan Phở? Vegetables are used to cook the broth but they still guarantee the unique Phở flavor. The broth is gonna smell so good. Also, in the video, I'll show you how to make vegan beef in a very simple way. Its texture is gonna be slightly chewy, meaty and crispy. Alright, what are you waiting for? Let's jump in. To give vegan broth natural sweetness, we need some veggies. Here lies all the necessary vegetables for today's dish. This leek weighs 230gr The green part will be used for the broth while the white part will be saved for later use to enhance the fragrance of the broth. Next, I have 300gr of white radish. It's advisable to measure the vegetables precisely so we can season more accurately. Then, I have 300gr of carrots and 250gr of chayote. Cut one end of the chayote squash as shown in the video and rub to to remove all gooey, then wash and rinse before completely peeling it. Peel carrots and white radish as well. Since we use lots of spices to cook Phở, I advise you to use any kinds of veggies that do not have an intense fragrance. Regarding the leek, cut the white part and save 80gr of it for later use. We'll then cut the green part into smaller chunks. Remember to separate the leaves so as to rinse more elaborately since there’s lots of dirt harbored at the bottom Ok, now, rinse well before cooking. After washing all veggies well, let's cut the chayote squash into halves. Remove the core and cut into pieces which are 2-3cm thick. Repeat this step with carrots and white radish. When making vegetable broth, it is recommended to cut vegetables into smaller chunks to increase the surface area exposed and release more flavor into the broth. Cut carrots into four pieces. Now, transfer these veggies into a large pot. Rinse the green part of the leek well before adding to the pot as well. This recipe is supposed to end up with around 5 servings, thus, let's measure in 2 liters of water. Alright, place the pot on the stove and cook on high heat. When it comes to a boil, adjust to low heat and cover with a lid. Simmer on low heat for 45 minutes and you'll have a super delicious broth. During this time, let's move on and prep other ingredients. In terms of the white part of the leek, let's cut into three portions. Each piece weighs around 20gr. Save the two endings for frying later. Chop the middle piece into thin strips as shown in the video before soaking them in cold water. It's like raw onions. Soaking helps mellow their harsh taste and increase their crispy texture. Soak for 60 minutes. Let's make vegan beef. We're gonna use gluten flour to make it. Here's its packet. Feel free to use any gluten flour of choice. But make sure to use gluten flour. With this recipe, we'll need 100gr. Please use a food scale for more accuracy. Measure out 100ml of soy milk. If you don't have soy milk, feel free to substitute it with either whole milk or cold water .Next, season with 1 tsp (2gr) of mushroom seasoning powder I use mushroom seasoning powder of Aji-ngon It's very fragrant. To give the vegan beef its distinctive flavor and color, I'm gonna use 1/4 tsp of cocoa powder. Try your best to find and use the cocoa powder because it's quite essential if you want to make the beef look 'more beef'. Here's the brand of cocoa powder that I use. Alright, mix thoroughly. If it takes you a bit long to dissolve cocoa powder completely, you may heat up the milk a bit so it helps dissolve much faster. Make sure that the cocoa powder needs to dissolve completely. Ok, pour the whole resulting mixture into gluten flour and stir briskly. Gluten flour absorbs liquid very quickly. And once it has absorbed a sufficient amount of liquid, it becomes very chewy. So make sure to stir as fast as you can When it starts to look dry, wear disposable gloves and it's time to squeeze. It helps the remaining dry flour absorb to the liquid completely. Please note that at this time, the flour is very dry. If it's way too dry, you can add some more milk. However, you don't need to Just keep squeezing and kneading till the dough starts to become firmer and wetter again. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and mix until it forms a dough. Now, tightly wrap in cling film like this to help form a dough. Then, allow it to rest for 30 minutes before we can work with it. To serve alongside, we need some dried soybean curd. Here it is. We need around 20gr. This is very delicious guys, there's no need to soak it too long but it softens quite fast. Add a generous amount of room temperature in and soak for 30-60 minutes. Make sure that the dried soybean curd is completely submerged in water. Alright, let me introduce you other dried spices to add to our broth. I have 6gr of cinnamon. In case you don't have a food scale, just use one cinnamon stick. Separate it and rinse well if needed. 3gr of star anise. Depending on how large your star anises are, if they are small, then use 4 of them. And if small, use 3. 2gr of fennel, it smells so good, guys! But if you have coriander seeds, you can use them as well. Or you can make use of coriander roots. Next, we need 4gr of whole pepper corn which is 1/2 tablespoon. 2gr (1/2 tbsp) of clove. I already peel 20gr of ginger here. Please do not exceed the ratio of the recipe since overusing these spices might hugely affect the flavor of the broth. First off, let's toast fennel on medium heat. When it starts to smell fragrant, remove from the heat. Do not toast too long because we don't want to burn them, right Next, toast the pepper corn. Remember to toast on medium heat until fragrant, remove from the heat right off the bat. Do not toast for too long as it may burn the pepper. Repeat the same process with clove. Toast star anise and cinnamon together on medium heat. When they start to smell good, remove from the heat. I know that it may seem to be quite tiring and time consuming to toast each ingredient separately like this. But this is the only way to tell if they are perfectly toasted or not. After toasting, transfer all these spices onto a sieve or a cheesecloth. This helps remove them from the broth faster after cooking. After resting vegan beef for 30 minutes, fetch it and we can now cut into slices. At this time, you can see how pliable and chewy it is. The slices should be 2-3 mm in thickness. Do not cut it too thick because it's gonna be quite greasy and not crispy after frying After cutting, please remember to position the slices as shown in the video, do not stack them onto each other as they might be quite sticky. Alright, let's fry them all. You don't have to use too much oil to fry. The boiling temperature of oil should be around 150-160 degrees C I'll fry on medium heat. Only fry 1-2 pieces at a time. It doesn't take too long to fry. When it starts to puff up as shown on the screen, flip to the other side. Make sure to fry both sides evenly before removing from the pan. Do not overfry since it may cause the beef to be rubbery. Look, it is well cooked now. Remove from the hot oil. So we're done preparing the beef. When assembling a bowl of Pho, we will add the beef to the bowl before ladling a spoonful of broth. After simmering the pot of vegetables, let's remove carrots, white radish, and chayote squash. We will only use the broth. Discard the veggies since they have already given their quintessence. But if you want to eat them, feel free to do so since they are high in vitamins. In terms of ginger, cut into thin slices which are 1mm in thickness. 2 portions of leek which were saved previously, I'll cut into halves And we're ready to cook the broth. Take out a big pot and adjust to high heat. Place ginger and leek in the pot. We're gonna toast ginger and leek till they start to smell good. This helps enhance the flavor of the broth a lot. If possible, you can also charcoal grill ginger and leek as well, the aroma is gonna be more wonderful. But I usually do this when I cook Pho at home. When they start to turn brown as shown in the video and smell good, remove from the heat. Allow the pot to sit and cool down for 5 minutes. It's scorching hot at the moment. If we added vegetable oil in at this moment, it would have an unpleasant smell and also affect the quality of the broth. Check if the pot has cooled down or not before adding 2 tbsps of vegetable oil (I use sunflower oil) Place the pot on the stove and adjust to high heat. Wait till the oil comes to a boil and you can smell the distinctive aroma of ginger and leek. Do not have to fry till golden, guys. Just make sure they start to smell good before we can add vegetable broth in. We measured 2 liters of water when we cooked the broth so now after cooking, I think it still remains 2 liters. Now, place the toasted spices in and wait until the mixture comes to a boil. When it starts boiling, reduce to low heat and keep simmering for 15 minutes. Please note that we will NOT cover with a lid. Keep the mixture boil gently throughout the whole process. If it boils too vigorously, it may evaporate considerably. After 15 minutes, remove all dry spices and ginger, leek as well. Do not cook too long because they might cause the broth to be bitter. Look, the broth is so beautiful with this golden color. The fragrance is extremely irresistible. It looks almost similar to the non-vegan broth, doesn't it? Now, let's season the broth. Let's start with 2 tsps of salt and 4 tsps of mushroom seasoning powder. Please take note that you can start adding 1.5 tsps of salt first and feel free to add some more later because it depends on the amount of broth after evaporation. I am using finely ground salt so 2tsps of salt equal to 12gr. 4 tsps of seasoning powder is 8gr. Wait till the mixture comes to a boil before adding vegan beef in. Regarding dried soybean curd, after soaking, it is now softened. Cut into small chunks as shown in the video We're gonna have 4-5 servings so cut the soybean curd into 8-10 pieces. Add them to the broth. Next, I have 100gr of mushroom Feel free to use any mushroom of choice. I am using this type of mushroom which is quite similar to shiitake mushrooms. When the mixture boils again, cook for 3-5 minutes and we're done with the broth. So scrumptious!! Please note that we will only add vegan beef, soybean curd and mushrooms in the broth when we're about to serve. Do not add too soon as it may not taste delicious anymore. With regards to Vietnamese herbs, we have Thai basils and Sawleaf. Southern Vietnamese people always enjoy their bowl of Phở with Hoisin Sauce and Chili Sauce. Look! I bought these two in a Vietnamese grocery store. When serving, add 1 tsp of hoisin sauce and some chili sauce to a small bowl. Don't forget some slices of lemon and chilies as well. They are the key elements to help give Phở its authentic taste. As for Phở noodles, I'm using this brand. It does not require long poaching time but still maintain the best flavor. When boiling Phở noodles, make sure to boil water in advance. Make sure to keep the water boiling during the cooking process. Alright, boil the noodles for 3-4 minutes. If you prefer a chewy texture, so just boil for 3 minutes. If you prefer a softer texture, boil for 4 minutes. Make sure to keep the broth boiling at all time prior to ladling. Ok, I'm gonna ladle a spoonful of broth to the noodles. Oh, and please note that we don't have to rinse the noodles under cold water after boiling It looks so delicious. OK, put some beef in, mushrooms, and soybean curd. The vegan beef tastes just like the non-vegan one. It's chewy, fatty and smells so good. Sprinkle with some chopped leek, and black pepper. Alright, we're done making a bowl of Phở. When eating, don't forget to add hoisin sauce and chili sauce as well. Squeeze some lime juice in. So tempting! Shred sawleaf well and mix thoroughly. You can definitely use this vegan broth to subsitute non-vegan broth of Phở as well This helps to curb the fat content in beef bone. I hope that all of you can cook vegan Phở for your family and friends. If you have any questions, feel free to text me. Thank you so much for watching. I'll see you soon in the next video.
