Mushroom Vegan Pho Made With Tea

Discover a New Pho-vorite: Vegan Pho with Tea-Infused Broth

A New Twist on Classic Pho with a Tea Infused Broth

Pho, that fragrant Vietnamese soup overflowing with noodles, herbs, and delicate flavors, is a beloved comfort food for many. The secret to pho’s allure is its extraordinary broth – a long and slow-simmered combination of spices, aromatics, and beef bones. But, what if there was a way to infuse all that pho goodness without the long simmer and meat?  

Well, friends, there is, if you are willing to ditch tradition and explore a pho recipe that centers around a tea-based broth. This vegetarian pho recipe maintains the classic pho flavors with a fast cooking broth made with black tea instead of beef bones. 

We were first introduced to this idea by Mark Bittman (one of our favorite cookbook authors). We had tried to make fast pho broths before without much success. The introduction of black tea seemed to be the missing key to creating a short cooked broth with a rich complex depth of flavor.

The Ingredients of a Great Pho

Before we dive into the recipe, let’s explore what truly makes pho so irresistible:

• The broth: The soul of a pho lies in its aromatic broth. Warming spices like star anise, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger are essential, along with a hint of sweetness to balance the flavors.
• The noodles: Rice stick noodles offer the perfect slurp-ability and a satisfying texture.
• Freshness: A generous pile of fresh herbs like cilantro, mint, and basil, along with lime wedges and spicy chilis, brighten and elevate every bite.

This vegan pho recipe keeps all of these elements. 

The Benefits of our Tea-Based Broth

Using a rich, smoky black tea like Russian Caravan is the twist that sets this pho recipe apart. It makes this soup recipe:

• Quick: This soup comes together in about 20 minutes. The actual broth takes just 8 minutes to make. 
• Depth and complexity: The inherent smokiness and tannins of the tea leaves add layers of flavor you simply won’t achieve with a regular vegetable stock.
• Health factor: Teas, especially black teas, are known for their antioxidant properties.

One of the concerns we had when making a tea broth is that the whole spices wouldn’t have time to impart their flavor. Taking that into consideration, we used Ground Five Spice instead of whole spices.  

Is Pho Soup Healing?

While pho itself might not be a miracle cure, there’s something undeniably restorative about a hot bowl of flavorful broth and noodles. The warmth, the gentle spices, the fresh herbs – it all combines to soothe and nourish the body.

Give this unique pho recipe a try, and let the magic of tea transform your favorite comfort food into something even more delicious and satisfying!

 Ingredients

Seasonings.

Tea. 

We chose Russian Caravan for this recipe as its blend of Keemun, oolong, and smoky Lapsang Souchong teas creates a deep hearty broth.

Chinese Five Spice.

SpiceTopia’s Chinese Five Spice brings together cinnamon, fennel, cloves, star anise, and Sichuan peppercorns to create a spice blend with notes of sweet, sour, pungent, bitter, and salty. In this recipe, this one blend mimics the whole spices used in authentic pho recipes.

Learn more about Five Spice Right Here!

Ginger. Fresh ginger is best for this recipe. Cut it into thin coin shaped pieces and add it to the tea steeper. If fresh ginger is not available, use just ½ teaspoon of Dried Ginger Powder as a substitute for the fresh. 

Find all these teas and spices along with 100s more at SpiceTopia!

Produce or Veggies.

Fresh Herbs. This recipe calls for 2 cups of fresh herbs. Cilantro, basil, and mint are the herbs traditionally served with pho. If you can find it, culantro and thai basil bring even more flavors than cilantro and sweet basil. If neither are available to you, no worries – use what you have. 

These herbs are served on what is called the garnish plate and are meant to be added as you eat your pho. Add as many or as few as you like! 

Fresh Chili Peppers. Use a chili pepper of your choice. Jalapeno or serranos are readily available where we live in Southern California, so that is what we use. You’ll want a mild to medium heat chili – unless you like your soup really spicy! Half of one of the peppers will go into your broth while the rest the the two chili peppers will be added to your garnish plate.

Mushrooms.  We enjoy shiitakes in this recipe, as their meaty texture is a satisfying substitute for beef or chicken. But really, any type of mushroom will work. In our pictures, you’ll see we used cremini mushrooms – because they were available at our local grocery store. 

Green Onions. In an authentic pho soup recipe, onions and other aromatics are charred and then added to the broth. This recipe skips that step because we are not simmering a broth for a long period of time. A few sliced green onions added to your soup when serving, give the soup just a touch of onion flavor. 

Limes. Quartered limes are an essential part of the pho garnish plate. Squeeze the juice into your broth and then add the lime pieces directly into the soup. 

Noodles.

Rice Noodles are the traditional noodle used in pho. You’ll want to look for rice sticks or rice vermicelli. They are thin noodles and come in bundles inside of a bag. You’ll sometimes find them in your grocery store. 

If shopping at an Asian grocery store, they will be labeled as Chao Ching or Bún Gao Kho No 1. In Chinese, Chao Ching means stir fry noodles. In Vietnamese, Bún Gao Kho means rice vermicelli. The noodles could be labeled as any of the above. 

If none of these are available to you, feel free to use your favorite thin noodle that cooks quickly.

Sauces.

Fish Sauce or Tamari. Traditionally, fish sauce would be used in pho to add a deep umami and salty flavor. If you have a favorite brand of vegan fish sauce, use that. If you don’t have vegan fish sauce available, Tamari is a great substitute. 

Hoisin Sauce. The Chinese word for hoisin sauce translates to seafood sauce. However, hoisin sauce contains no seafood or fish. The word for it comes from the fact that it is often served as a sauce for seafood! So hoisin sauce is a naturally vegan sauce. 

Hoisin sauce is part of your garnish plate and is used to add just a touch of sweetness to your bowl of pho.

Oil.

This recipe calls for both a high-smoke point neutral flavored oil like avocado or grapeseed oil as well as sesame oil. The neutral flavored oil allows you to cook your mushrooms without a burnt taste, while the sesame oil adds a touch of nuttiness to this Vietnamese inspired recipe.

Technique. How to Make Tea Pho.

Start by cleaning and cooking your mushrooms.

• Your mushrooms need to hit the pan dry, so clean them with a dry paper towel. Just wipe away any visible dirt. No need to use water. 
• Slice your mushrooms into a uniform size. 
• Heat your soup pot with both oils. Add the mushrooms. Do not crowd the pan. Cook in batches if needed. 
• Wait to salt the mushrooms until they are browned and cooked. 

Next, you’ll remove mushrooms and start your broth. Add your five spice to the pot and allow to toast for about 30 – 40 seconds. Then add 2 – 3 cups of the water and use a spoon or spatula to scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. 

Add the remaining water and fish sauce. Bring to a boil. 

Use a large tea pot infuser or a bouquet garni to hold the tea, ginger pieces, and slices of about ½ of one chili pepper. 

After the water comes to a boil, remove from the heat. Allow to cool down and all the bubbles from the boil to dissipate. Add the tea infuser and allow to infuse for 5 minutes. Promptly remove after 5 minutes. Do not allow the tea to sit and infuse for longer than 5 minutes or the broth will become bitter. 

Place back on the stove and bring back to a boil. After it comes to a boil, turn off the heat and add the rice noodles. The noodles will soften in 2 -4 minutes. 

After the noodles have softened, divide between your soup bowls. Add the mushrooms to your noodles. Ladle the broth over the noodles and mushrooms. 

Serve with garnish plate of herbs, chili peppers, limes, green onions, and hoisin sauce.

Let’s Get Cooking!