Mushroom Broth

I love phô so much, but it takes hours to make just the broth alone, so it’s a dish I never make at home. A few months back, I was craving it so much, and came up with the idea of developing a flavourful broth inspired by the flavours found in phô. I scrapped the idea of making bone broths as they take very long to make and thought a vegan base would be a great alternative for many people

After many trials, months later, I’m finally happy with the base of the soup. It’s not the traditional recipe you’ll find for phô as I use some unusual ingredients and some that are definitely not Vietnamese. The final product is a flavourful broth, full of umami and warming spices you find in a usual phô

This recipe is for the broth. To make Phô you’ll also need some rice noodles (or any noodles you like in soup,) herbs - coriander, mint, parsley, and finally blanched beansprouts. Add whatever type of protein you like and finish it off with a little chilli crisp or hoisin (if you like) for extra umph.

Serves: 2-3 people

prep/cooking time: 20-30 minutes

Ingredients

1 brown onion, cut in half (not peeled)

1 thumb sized piece of ginger, sliced down the centre

1 star anise

8 cardamom pods, bashed

3 cloves

1/4 stick of cinnamon

1.5 tsp coriander seeds

1/4 tsp fennel seeds

1/2 tsp peppercorns

2 bay leaves

1 small piece of Kombu

10 dried shiitakes

6 cups (1.25L)

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp lime juice

1 tsp white miso

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp fish sauce (omit if making vegetarian/vegan)

1/2 tsp toasted sesame seed oil

Method

1. In a dry pot, add the onion and ginger, both flesh side down. Turn the heat up to medium high and let the flesh lightly char- you want both, onion and ginger to catch some colour with bits of charring, do not fully burn them. Remove from the pot.

2. Add the spices into the pot; star anise, cardamom pods, cloves, cinnamon, coriander seeds, fennel seeds and peppercorns. Toast for 1 minute, stirring constantly until fragrant.

3. Add the ginger and onion back into the pot, along with the bay leaves, kombu, shiitakes and the water. Bring the mix to a boil, add a lid on, and turn the heat down to medium low. Simmer for 15-20 minutes. (After simmering you can turn the heat off and let everything infuse in the water for longer, this will create a much more intense broth)

4. After simmering, turn the heat off and add the soy sauce, lime juice, miso, apple cider vinegar, fish sauce and toasted sesame oil, stir until all the miso clumps have fully dissolved and season with salt if needed. Cool down or serve immediately.