Pho Chay (Vietnamese Noodle Soup)

Ingredients

• 2 Yellow onion, halved
• 3 inchs Fresh ginger, halved lengthwise
• 1 tbsp Ground coriander
• 1 tsp Fennel seed
• ¼ tsp Ground cloves
• 1 tsp Ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp Ground cardamom
• 8 cups Low-sodium vegetable broth
• 1 piece Kombu (dried kelp)
• ½ oz Dried porcini mushrooms
• ½ Daikon radish, cut into chunks
• 2 tbsp Low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Brown sugar
• 8 oz Rice noodles (dry)
• ¾ block Extra-firm tofu, cubed and pan-fried
• 2 cups Mung bean sprouts
• 1 cup Fresh basil
• 1 cup Cilantro
• 2 Lime, wedges
• 2 Thai bird chiles, sliced (optional)

Method

1. Char the onion halves and the ginger directly over a gas flame or under the broiler until blackened in patches, about 8 minutes. This is not optional — the char is where pho's color and its smoky sweetness come from.
2. Toast the coriander, fennel, clove, cinnamon and cardamom in a dry pot for 90 seconds until fragrant.
3. Add the broth, kombu, dried mushrooms, daikon, and the charred onion and ginger. Bring almost to a boil, then drop to the barest simmer for one hour. Pull the kombu out after 20 minutes.
4. Strain the broth. Season with soy sauce and sugar and taste it on its own — pho broth should taste finished and faintly sweet before anything else goes in the bowl.
5. Soak and cook the rice noodles per the package, then divide them among four deep bowls with the fried tofu.
6. Pour the boiling broth over. Serve with the sprouts, herbs, lime and chiles on a plate in the middle of the table so everybody finishes their own bowl.

Notes

✨ The restaurant touch

The garnish plate is not decoration. Pho is finished at the table by the person eating it, and handing that over is half the pleasure.

🧒 For the kids

Broth, noodles and tofu with nothing on top is a perfectly good bowl for a five-year-old, and the herb plate lets them add one brave thing.

🥡 Leftovers

The broth keeps 5 days and freezes 3 months. Store noodles apart.

Per serving

Computed from USDA FoodData Central values. A planning tool, not medical advice.