Faux Pho

Along with the tofu lettuce wraps, I tried to make some pho. It turned out pretty well. I've never actually had pho -- even my favorite Vietnamese restaurant doesn't offer vegetarian pho. I might try some pro-pho from Loving Cafe, though, at some point.

This recipe I found was kind of fun because it was unlike anything I'd made before. I made a broth with onion, garlic, shallots, ginger, cinnamon sticks, cloves, and soy sauce. I couldn't find star anise in my grocery store and didn't make a special trip to find some. I only peeled these ingredients enough to remove the layer that was exposed in the store. I simmered all this for about half an hour, then strained it leaving only the broth. The cinnamon sticks and ginger smelled so good while all this was cooking.


Once that was done, I added some seitan and simmered that to warm it through. I also rehydrated some rice noodles with boiling water.

Then, the build-it-yourself spread. We had cilantro, scallions, bean sprouts, lime, hoisin, and sriracha. A little sriracha goes a long way, we found, but this was a really good and simple enough soup.