Heaven in a Bowl

By Sidonie Maroon

The kitchen’s filled with the intoxicating odors of mushrooms, ginger, garlic, star anise, coriander, cinnamon, and it’s coming from the Instant Pot. Wondering what I’m making? Mushroom Pho! Yes, mushroom pho is a real soup. It’s called pho chay, and is a Vietnamese vegetarian version beloved by Buddhist monks.

Pho pronounced (fuuh?) raising your voice at the end of the word as if you’re asking a question, is simple to make in the Instant Pot using the broth cycle. You won’t need to stand over the stock for endless hours.

While I love both beef and chicken pho, I’m glad to have this recipe. I love a good mushroom soup, and what could be better to bring out its umami flavors than Vietnamese seasonings?  I’ll take you the recipe’s steps and explain as we go along.

The Broth

The secret to good pho is the broth, which is rich and clear. I make the broth by first dry roasting the spices in the Instant Pot on the saute setting. You’ll know they’re done when they smell toasty. Take them out and dry saute, turning, the onions, garlic and ginger until aromatic, about three minutes. These two steps will increase the depth of flavor in the finished broth. Next, add the spices, apple, celery, mushrooms, salt and water. Following the Instant Pot instructions, set to the broth cycle, which is high pressure for 30 minutes, with a natural release. When the broth is done, strain it and add the vinegar, soy sauce and sugar. Keep the broth at a low simmer until ready to serve.

The Bowl

We serve pho in a large deep bowl in layers. The noodles go in the bowl's bottom, followed by meat or mushrooms, and then broth and toppings. It should be a ratio of ⅓ noodles to ⅔ broth and toppings. The bail and lime make the pho’s flavors pop.

Noodles

Bring a large pot of water to a boil; then keep it at a high simmer until needed. Soak the noodles covered in hot tap water until opaque and pliable about 15- 30 minutes. Drain and wash off any extra starch, then drain them again. When you’re ready to serve the pho, bring the noodle water to a boil and dunk in a single portion of the noodles, using a noodle strainer or mesh sieve. This will heat and soften them. Submerge them for 60 seconds. Lift the noodles from the pot, shake the strainer to remove any excess water, and put the noodles in a warmed bowl. Repeat until all the bowls have noodles. Each bowl should contain a ratio of ⅓ noodles to ⅔ broth and toppings.

Toppings and Serving  

The combination of umami and aromatic flavors gives the pho its allure. Allow the diners to put on their own basil and lime juice. Arrange the mushrooms and onions on top of the noodles with broth poured over. Everything should be piping hot. If possible, the bowls should be warm. Eat the pho by first wafting the fragrance, then tasting and slurping heartily. Vietnamese traditionally eat pho with ceramic soup spoons and chopsticks.

Instant Pot Vegetarian Mushroom Pho

Inspired by Andrea Nguyen’s The PHO cookbook

Serves 4

Takes 2 hours, mostly hands-off

Try this recipe when a vegetarian pho is in order. It is a flavorful mushroom broth and the spicy notes contrast well with shiitakes and the aromatic basil. The lime, added at the table, sets everything harmoniously together. Directions are in the article. 

Ingredients

For the Broth

2 quarts water

1 ½ teaspoons fine sea salt, more if needed

1-inch piece of unpeeled ginger, sliced and bruised

4 cloves garlic peeled

1 medium yellow onion cut into thick half slices

1 medium tart/sweet apple with peel, cored and cut into chunks 

2 celery stalks coarsely chopped

3 packed cups crimini mushrooms chopped

1 ounce dried shiitake mushrooms

2 whole cloves

2 star anise pods

2 teaspoons whole coriander seed

1/2 cinnamon stick

3 tablespoons soy sauce, more if needed

2 teaspoons sugar

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

For the Noodles

10 ounces dried narrow flat rice noodles

For the Bowl

1 red onion sliced paper thin and blanched for 30 seconds, right before the noodles are cooked.

1 bunch Thai basil leaves, with leaves taken off the stems.

½  lb shiitake mushrooms, stems taken off and thinly sliced, sauteed in a little oil 

1 lime sliced for squeezing

Instant Pot Beef Pho Stock

Makes 16 cups (1 gallon)

3-4 hours, mostly hands-off

You’ve heard the hype about bone broth? Well, Beef Pho is bone broth with Vietnamese flavors. Pho is a traditional breakfast food in Vietnam; smart because all the warm spices, collagen, gelatin, vitamins and minerals are wonderful to wake the digestion. I’ve amplified the traditional stock with the additions of kelp and dried mushrooms, because both bring umami flavors and add nutrition. The Instant Pot saves time, makes the process straightforward and mostly hands-off. You can freeze the stock by the quart for full meals, or by the cup for quick breakfasts.     

Ingredients

3 lb mix of grass-fed beef bones (or grass fed and grain finished)

1 lb chicken wings

1 gallon cold water

1 strip kombu cut into 2-inch pieces 

1 ounce dried shiitake mushrooms or ½ ounce dried shrimp

1 large yellow onion, halved and sliced

1 small tart-sweet apple, cut into quarters with the seeds removed

2-inch piece unpeeled ginger, cut into thick pieces and bruised

3 star anise pods

3 cloves

1 cinnamon stick

2 tablespoons fish sauce

4 teaspoons fine sea salt

2 teaspoons organic sugar (optional)

Instructions

We can do all the steps in the Instant Pot

1.Blanch the bones to create a clearer stock: Cover the bones with cold water, bring to a boil and cook at a high simmer for 20 minutes, drain and rinse.

2.Dry roast the spices on medium saute until fragrant. Add and slightly char the ginger and onion stirring occasionally for 1-2 minutes. Add the bones, other ingredients and water. Set to high pressure for 120 minutes, using a natural release.

3.Strain the finished stock through a fine-mesh strainer or cheesecloth. Chill the stock. The fat will rise to the top and solidify. Take most of the fat off, leaving some for flavor. Save the skimmed fat for other uses; it’s delicious and healthy. Taste for salt and correct as needed. Use the stock right away or freeze in quart-sized containers for quick pho meals.

Cook’s Notes

Use a 2:3 bone to water ratio when pressure cooking or simmering beef stock.

2 lbs bones to 3 lbs water = 3 pints (1 pint of water = 1 pound)

Use bones rich in connective tissue like oxtail (beef tail), knuckle bones, joint bones, neck bones and chine (beef back). Marrow bones will cloud the broth. Vietnamese cooks sometimes add pig’s feet or chicken backs to beef pho. 

Kelp adds minerals and aids digestion. This is not usual to pho but seaweeds in Vietnamese beef soups are.

Dried mushrooms and dried sea animals like shrimp, anchovies and scallops add umami flavor and are also traditional to Vietnamese soups.  

Roasting bones create a darker, richer tasting stock, but is not traditional for pho where prized is a clear and lighter flavor.

Beyond the Broth — toppings, additions and table-side options

Pho noodles

Soak the noodles in hot tap water, to cover, until opaque and pliable about 15- 30 minutes. Drain them, wash off any extra starch and drain them again. When you’re ready to serve, bring the strained hot broth to a boil and dunk a two bowl portion of the noodles, using a noodle strainer or mesh sieve. This will heat and soften them. You can stir them while they’re submerged; about 60 seconds or al dente. Lift the noodles from the pot and distribute them to the bowls. Repeat until all the bowls have noodles. Each bowl should contain a ratio of ⅓ noodles to ⅔ broth and toppings.

Pho garnishes per diner

1 handful of mung bean sprouts per person

2 sprigs mint

2 sprigs Thai basil

4 fresh cilantro leaves

Lime wedges

Several thin slices of jalapeno, Fresno or serrano chilies

Thinly sliced steak

Use 1 ounce per diner of well-trimmed beef steak. Cut into chunks 2 by 3 inches. Place them on a plate and freeze for 15 minutes or until fir on the outside. Cut across the grain ⅛ inch thick. Lay the room temperature slices into the soup bowl and allow the hot broth to cook them.

Poached Beef Meatballs

Makes 24 meatballs

Make ahead and put into the soup as needed, or eaten with hoisin sauce.

Ingredients

1 lb ground chuck

2 cloves garlic minced and mashed

2 teaspoons ginger paste

1 teaspoon pho spice mix (recipe follows)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 tablespoon coconut palm sugar

2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

2 tablespoons potato starch

2 tablespoons fish sauce

Pho spice mix

Grind the spices together, then sift through a sieve. 

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon fennel seed

2 teaspoons coriander seed

10 black peppercorns

2 cloves

Directions

In a food processor:

Pulse all the ingredients together except the ground beef.

Add the ground beef and run the processor until a rough ball forms. Let the mixture rest for 5 minutes; then run the processor for 1 minute, making a smooth, stiff paste. Measure out into heaping tablespoon portions. Oil your hands and roll the paste into balls. Fill a pot with water, 2 ½ inches deep, bring it to a boil and lower to a medium simmer. Add the meatballs to the pot covering the bottom. You may need to do several batches. Cook them at a medium simmer for 8-10 minutes. They will float to the top. When done, scoop the meatballs out, allowing them to cool. When ready to serve, use the noodle strainer to dip them into the hot pho broth before adding to the individual bowls. The cooked meat balls can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen (thaw before using).

Chicken Pho

Serves 4-6

Time: This soup takes two days to complete. On the first day, you’ll roast the chicken and make the stock, and on the second, put the soup together. The pleasant part is that most of the project is hands off.   

Pho, the fabulous noodle soup — pronounced between “fir” and “fur”, is a marriage of the French pot au feu, meaning “pot on fire” and Vietnamese genius. It’s also an example of how to make healthy stocks using a slow cooker and everyday leftover bones, stems, peels and herbs.

Ingredients

3 lb whole chicken, roasted 

Stock ingredients

Chicken carcass after roasting

3 star anise

1 cinnamon stick

4 cardamom pods

2 tablespoons whole coriander

1 tablespoon cumin seed toasted

1 teaspoon sea salt

8 peppercorns

ginger peelings from making ginger paste

1 head garlic minced

2 dried New Mexican red chilies or the like

2 carrots chopped

2 celery ribs chopped

Cilantro stems from a bunch, save the leaves for the soup

Soup ingredients

6 ounces wide dry rice noodles

shredded chicken

1 fresh red chili seeded and finely chopped

4 scallions finely chopped

3 tablespoons fresh ginger paste

Juice of one lime

2 tablespoons fish sauce

Topping ingredients 

20 Thai basil leaves

20 mint leaves

20 cilantro leaves

1 large handful of peppery arugula

2 limes quartered and reserved for squeezing onto individual portions

First day: making the stock

1. Roast a 3 lb chicken in a large oval crock pot with 1 cup of water, on high for 3 ½ hours. When the chicken’s done, lift it out, leaving the drippings in the crock pot. Allow the bird to cool and then remove and shred the meat. I do this by setting the chicken on a baking sheet and enthusiastically tearing into it with both hands. Expect to get your hands mucky, but think of it as a primal experience that connects you to the consequences of life and death. Getting meat off bones always makes me philosophical.

2. Refrigrate the shredded chicken. Returning all the bones, wings, neck, and skin to the crock pot. The skin’s filled with wonderful chicken fat, very nutritious and flavorful. When you refrigerate the finished strained stock, the fat will rise and harden at the top of your jar. Lift it off and use for all kinds of culinary wonders. Pho stock’s fat is exciting because it was long infused with aromatic spices and herbs.

Add  2 quarts of water and the other stock ingredients. Set the crock pot on low and cook for 10-12 hours, or overnight. The smells wafting will be incredible. When it’s finished, cool, strain and then refrigerate it into quart jars. When the stock is cold, the fat will rise to the surface and the stock will be gelatinous. This is a good sign, and yummy.

Second Day: putting the soup together

Pho is fabulous because stock, noodles, and aromatic toppings are all kept separate and put together as needed. This is how fast food should be—slow cooked, but quickly pulled together.  

1. Heat the Pho stock in a soup pot, add the fish sauce, and salt to taste.

2. Put the rice noodles in a deep mixing bowl. Boil enough water to cover the noodles, pour the boiling water over the rice noodles until they’re submerged. Every minute or two, give the noodles a stir to loosen them up. When they’ve softened, taste and see if they’re done.

Flat rice noodles may take 10 minutes, depending on their thickness. They should be al dente.

Once the noodles are tender, drain and run under cool water.

3. Prep the soup and topping ingredients.

4. To finish and serving the Pho, place a little chili, lemongrass, ginger, scallion, and 1 teaspoon of lime juice into each bowl. Add the noodles, filling  ⅓ of the bowl, and lay the shredded chicken on the top. Ladle the hot stock over and serve. Place the remaining garnishes and lime quarters invitingly on the table. Invite your guests to take from the garnishes and tear them into the bowl. Stir the soup from the bottom to combine the flavors. Put your nose right over the bowl and enjoy the rich smells and zesty tastes.