Vietnamese Noodle Soup aka Vegan Pho aka “Phuhhhhh”

Vegan Pho

From Wikipidia:
Pho is a Vietnamese noodle soup consisting of broth, linguine-shaped rice noodles called bánh phở, a few herbs, and meat. Pho is a popular street food in Vietnam and the specialty of a number of restaurant chains around the world. It is primarily served with either beef or chicken. 


This was one of my projects after I became vegan because watching people eat pho on youtube videos(don't judge) made it seem delicious and as far as I know there isn't such a thing as vegan pho you can order at a restaurant because the broth will always be beef based. 

One of the things that jumped out at me about authentic pho was the globules of rendered beef fat that floated on top of the broth after the beef was added. I really wanted to incorporate that look of extremely flavorful fat in the broth so I used heavily seasoned fried onions. 

Broth:
6 cups vegetable stock
1 onion
4 cloves
2 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
2 shallots
6 cloves garlic
2 inches ginger

Toppings:
1 package 14 oz tofu
decent amount of cilantro
decent amount of basil
lime (not pictured, ugh I had to run out to the store last minute and get some)
1 package 8 oz rice noodles
sriracha
hoisin sauce

Onion Topping:
1 large onion
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1.5 tsp agave nectar (substitute with sweetener of choice, I like agave nectar because it dissolves really quickly into pretty much anything)
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
additional peanut oil for frying
1.5 tsp crushed chile 
squirt of sriracha

First thing to do is get the broth started because it needs to cook a good while.

Peel the ginger and cut everything else into quarters then toast the spices for a bit. After that dump everything into the pot with the stock, bring it to a boil and simmer for an hour.

MEANWHILE

Chop up the onion and put it in a container with the onion seasonings, put a lid on it and shake it up. You can let it sit out while the broth is working. 

One note here is that about 5 minutes after your broth starts simmering your apartment, and the hallway outside your apartment will start to smell incredible.

Chop up and soak the basil and cilantro for about 45 minutes, that's about long enough for the sand and grit to get off of it. I can't stand sand in my cilantro so I always give it a nice long soak.

Then dry off that stuff and get it chopped, along with the rinsed off spring onions.

At this point chop up the tofu – I've tried preparing the tofu a million different ways for this and it comes down to personal preference. Everything else in the bowl of pho is so intense I actually prefer raw tofu because it mellows things out a bit. If you like you can fry it or simmer it in the broth. One thing I don't recommend is putting any kind of breading, corn starch or flour on it before you fry it. 

When the broth nears completion cook the rice noodles in boiling water with a splash of oil and then drain and rinse them a bit under cold water to stop them from overcooking and keep them from drying up and sticking to each other.

Once the broth is done strain out all the solids and pressed the juices out from the onions, garlic and etc.

I think it's neat how cinnamon expands after being boiled...

When you are nearly ready to serve everything heat up your cast iron or stainless steel pan/wok till it is screaming hot and toss in the onions along with the seasoning and a bit of peanut oil. Keep stirring and cook them until they're tender and the sugar caramelizes a bit.

When the onions are tender the pho bowl gets assembled thusly:

Small handful of noodles → Ladle broth until noodles are covered → sprinkle herbs and spring onions → tofu → seasoned onions → hoisin, sriracha and a squirt or two of lime juice

I've made this dish in various incarnations at least 20 times, once for a group of 15 people on a family vacation and it was a hit every single time except for one time I breaded the tofu before frying it and the breading got all nasty and dissolved when I added it to the broth ughhhhhh.

The broth is intensely savory and the fresh herbs balance it out nicely. The onions are really good, with a touch of sweetness that works well with the hoisin. All in all it's a fulfilling dish that is a lot of fun to eat.

Additional toppings I've tried that were good are mint, cooked bok choy, seasoned tofu, crushed garlic chili paste and bean sprouts but you have to be careful because if you add too many toppings it gets overloaded. I wish I had wider shallower bowls to serve this in too I think it would look better. If you're one of those genetically unfortunate people that taste cilantro as soap definitely replace it with mint.


*Note - A recent suggestion I received was to char the ginger and onion prior to making the broth and I'm definitely going to try that next time over a charcoal grill.

Pasta with Sun Dried Tomato, Garlic and Parsley AKA (vegan) Dad's Spaghetti

So back when I was younger and lived with my parents, whenever it was my dad's night to cook he would fall back on a couple old stand-by's. He would either make burgers, which were great, grilled cheese, which would literally make me vomit(sorry Dad, and anyone reading this blog for the mental image BUT IT'S TRUE), or his special "Dad's Spaghetti" was was fantastic. In the original Dad's Spaghetti, crispy bits of fried proscuitto is used instead of sun dried tomato. I settled on the tomato as a good vegan replacement because it was the right color, similar chewy texture and a nice complement to the garlic and parsley.

I see a lot of recipes like this around on different food websites and the one ingredient they always leave out is something which makes this dish really special: breadcrumbs. The breadcrumbs do a great job soaking up the flavorful sun dried tomato and garlicky oil so that the pasta isn't slick and slimy, but rather moist and a little crunchy and packed with flavor. This is a low effort dish that works great on weeknights when you want a home-cooked meal but don't have a lot of time to spare.

Comfortably feeds three

Ingredients:
7-8 cloves crushed and very finely chopped garlic
1 cup breadcrumbs (or more to taste - different brands absorb moisture differently)
13.5 oz box of spaghetti
2.5 cups thinly sliced sun dried tomatoes
1 3/4 cups rinsed and chopped parsley
1-2 tablespoons red pepper flakes
2 tbsp olive oil (depending on if your tomatoes are dried or stored in oil you will want to adjust this. If they are dried maybe bump it up to 3 tbsp - if they are stored in oil feel free to reduce it depending on how much oil you use from the tomatoes.)
salt and pepper to taste

Note: I did not slice my tomatoes as thinly as I should have in these pictures. They should be about the size of half an almond, not big chunks like I have here.

Most of the work for this dish is prep. Get all your ingredients ready - chop your tomatoes, garlic, parsley, measure out your breadcrumbs and cook and drain your pasta according to the instruction on the box

All set? OK!

On medium low heat lightly fry your tomatoes and garlic in the oil in a large pan(I used a wok). The tomatoes burn very easily so stir constantly and keep a close eye on them. In this case we're not trying to caramelize anything, just releasing the flavor into the oil, so you can put your tomatoes, garlic and oil in the pan while it's cold and then warm it up until they are sizzling nicely. Don't risk burning them by throwing them into an already blistering hot pan.

After about 3 minutes of this add your noodles and coat with the oil, garlic and tomatoes. Add your breadcrumbs, stir until combined then take it off the heat and add the parsley, pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Continue folding the pasta over itself gently until all the ingredients are well mixed. At this point the incredible aroma of garlic and sun-dried tomato should be driving you a little crazy so immediately plate and serve. If you want, garnish with Parmesan cheese though it really doesn't need it.

*I added a Brazilian and Portuguese market in Arlington to the Useful Grocery Stores section of this blog.

Vegan Chili

Chili - Great cold weather food, hearty, freezes well, a good source of protein that isn't soy if you're vegan... Chili is awesome. In NoVa there are a lot of small Central American grocery stores that sell dried peppers and this is one recipe which utilizes them. With this simple way to prepare dried peppers for chili you will never have to buy chili powder again.

Pretty good guide to dried Chilies: http://www.foodsubs.com/Chiledry.html

Ingredients:

2 Small Hot Chilies such as Piquin, Arbol or Japon
3 Fruity Chilies such as Ancho, California, or New Mexico
3 Earthy Chilies such as Chilhuacle negro, Mulatto or Pasilla
2 whole chipotle chilies in adobo sauce with two tablespoons of the sauce
2 (14 oz) cans chickpeas drained, rinsed and chopped in a blender on pulse for a few seconds
2 (14 oz) can kidney beans drained and rinsed
1 (14 oz) can tomatoes pureed in a blender
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil
1 large onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, grated or pureed
1 1/2 tbsp cumin
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 tablespoons soy sauce (or more for seasoning)
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
splash of bourbon or some other whiskey
some cornmeal to thicken if desired

Optional Garnishes: sliced avocado, spring onions, chopped shallots, cheddar cheese and sour cream (if you're vegetarian)

1. De-seed and de-stem the peppers and boil them in about 6 cups of water for 20-30 minutes.

2. While the peppers are boiling fry the onion and garlic with the oil in a large heavy bottom pan or dutch oven till the garlic is fragrant and the onions are soft and translucent. Add the cumin and oregano and fry that another minute. When the onions are nice and cooked pour in your tomato puree and simmer that until your chilies are cooked.

3. Puree the chilies in a blender with about 2 cups of water (reserve the rest of the water you boiled them with) and the chipotles with the adobo sauce. This is your intensely flavorful chili sauce. Add the chili sauce, tomato paste, beans and the nutritional yeast to the dutch oven and bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes covered on low.

4. OK your chili is sort of done. If it's too watery  reduce it a bit and add some cornmeal till it's the desired thickness. If it's too thick add some of the reserved chili water. If it's not salty enough add more soy sauce. Give it a splash of bourbon to finish it off and you're actually done. Garnish with whatever you like.

Cook Books

I got some great cook books for Christmas such as Pok Pok and Vegetable Literacy which I'm very excited about. Unfortunately for this blog that means I'm cooking and experimenting with a lot of new dishes so I won't be posting any recipes until I'm comfortable with them and think I have something worth sharing.

Spinach and Feta Sandwich with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Garlic

This was one of my favorite sandwiches from a bakery/cafe I used to work at. It's a simple sandwich with very few ingredients but it can be a little tricky to get the balance right so I'll try to explain it as well as I can. What's difficult about it is that every bite needs to have feta, spinach and tomato in it or it won't taste good. These three ingredients together play off beautifully and create a really nice experience but if one is left out you'll be in trouble!

Warning: You need a panini press for this recipe. You can simulate this effect by putting the sandwich on a hot pan, putting something heavy on it and then turning it over after a few minute to cook the other side.

I made two sandwiches here but I'll just give a recipe for one sandwich and you can double or triple it (and so on) as you like. Oh! I made this on a multrigrain bread but it tastes great on a crusty baguette as well.

Ingredients:

1 clove garlic, sliced thinly
1 handful of baby spinach (see picture below)
Butter/oil or Earth Balance to spread on bread.
2 slices multigrain/baguette
2 packed tablespoons sun dried tomatoes sliced thinly (you can buy these in big jars at Cosco and they last forever)
1.5 tsp olive oil to fry spinach
Enough sliced or crumbled feta to cover your sandwich (see picture below)

The first thing you'll want to do is prep your garlic, tomato and feta.

This is how much spinach you'll need for a single sandwich:

Saute the garlic and olive oil over medium low heat, it should just be sizzling a bit, for about 30 seconds. You're just releasing the aroma and flavor into the oil before you throw the spinach in. Ok throw in the spinach and stir it and fold it over itself so it cooks as evenly as you can get it. Spinach burns if you look at it funny so you want to be VERY CAREFUL not to overcook it. The spinach will continue to cook once you remove it from the heat so you really only want it to wilt a bit before removing it from the heat.

This is how your spinach should look when it's done frying:

Seriously, that's it. Put in on a plate with a paper towel while you begin to assemble the sandwich. Butter one side of each bread slice and arrange one of them butter side down in front of you. Using a fork, lay the spinach on the unbuttered side of the bread in a thin, even layer. Don't overdo it or the bitter spinach will overpower the rest of the ingredients. See picture.

By the way, see how much more cooked it's gotten just from sitting around? OK now layer the sun dried tomato and cheese, again check out the pictures.

Put the second slice of bread on top, buttered side up and panini press that dude. It's done when the cheese is a bit melted. 

I love this recipe. It's just a few ingredients but when combined the flavors just work soooo well together - the sweet tomatoes, the bitter spinach and the salty/sour cheese. 

permalink: http://arlingtonhomecook.blogspot.com/2013/12/spinach-and-feta-sandwich-with-sun.html

Update

Added two more groceries to Useful Grocery Stores. I'll have another recipe up tonight or early tomorrow (edit. Ok that turned out to be a lie, THANKS CHRISTMAS). If you know of a good ethnic grocery store in NoVa, send me the information at grocersubmissions@gmail.com and I will post it.

Thing I learned today: How to make proper garlic croutons

I made a Vegan Ceasar Salad last night which was great and I will probably post the recipe at some point but I had a revelation when it came to croutons. The method described here: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2013/10/the-best-caesar-salad-recipe.html for making the croutons yielded the most garlicky, evenly cooked crunchy croutons I've ever made. The secret is soaking garlic in olive oil and then straining the garlic out before coating the bread squares with the oil. That way the garlic doesn't burn and make your croutons bitter when you put them in the oven. BRILLIANT.