Pho Noodle Soup

This soup is full of goodness! I love it because I just feel like my body is giving me a standing ovation each time I eat it. I eat it every time I feel I need an alkaline fill-me-up. I fill it with veggies.

I will give you the basic recipe, but just about any vegetable can go into this soup. Below, I give you the broth recipe and how I make the noodles. I will tell you that you will need to boil for about 3-5 the vegetables you add here with a touch of salt, such as bok choy, cabbage, carrots, broccoli, snow peas, and anything else. This is just so very good!

Now, I also use super-firm tofu in this recipe. To stop anyone “ewwing” right now, this tofu does not require pressing. I’ve found that so many tofu dishes fail because people open up the tofu and use it without pressing. That is going to be something nasty every time!!! Press that tofu!!! Tofu is bland on its own, and once pressed correctly, it has the ability to soak up the flavors of whatever you put with it.  It is also very nutritious.  A half cup of raw tofu has a bit more than 10 grams of protein and 5 grams of fat (mostly mono- and polyunsaturated).  It also has folate and minerals, such as calcium, magnesium (which allows your body to absorb the calcium), iron, and other trace minerals. I only use organic tofu (as how it is grown does affect our health); so I hope you will only use this also.

Now I need to tell you just how this soup is different from any other vegan pho recipe. Well, that’s easy. I leave out the ginger. Ginger is a medicinal spice that should not be consumed regularly due to its irritating effects. Though it is good for digestion, when consumed too much it may lead to diarrhea, irregularities in the heartbeat, and heartburn, to name a few. Please google the benefits of taking ginger in moderation and the side effects of overdoing it.

Ellen G. White also wrote about using ginger sparingly. In Life Sketches, p. 385.2, it states: “The vegetarian diet, consisting of the grains, vegetables, and fruits, which are indeed the fat of the land, is far less expensive than the food usually eaten, of flesh, butter, sweet-cake, and pies, lard, saleratus, pepper, vinegar, pickles, allspice, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. When we first discarded these, and purchased for our family only such articles as flour, meal, vegetables, and fruits, we were surprised to see how little it cost to live.” Thus, ginger is ranked among the spices to be discarded in everyday cooking. However, in Manuscript Releases, p. 245.4, she states that she has always used a little ginger: “In regard to our using spice, I plead not guilty. We have not had spice in our house for ten years, except a little ginger, which we have always used to some extent.” Please note the word “little” as temperately is the only way ginger is beneficial to the body.

Now, for those of you who love ginger, feel free to use this root in your medicinal juicing, but not in everyday cooking! Now, no need to dispair, ginger easily substituted with grounded cardamom, which is void of any ill effects.

Now, to finish up! Please know that I add fresh organic green onions and basil to FLAVOR garnish the soup. Fresh organic cilantro or mint also works well. These really freshen up the soup, giving this soup an edge of extra healthful like no other. For one, cilantro benefits the body as an herbal chelator, ridding the body of toxic heavy metal. Google this for yourself! Also google the other great benefits of cilantro!

So, with all of these benefits, there’s just no secret just how much I love this soup! Now, without further ado, here is the recipe…

Pho Noodles Soup Broth (Plant-based)

Soup Ingredients:

• Organic whole wheat ramen (or noodle of choice)
• Veggies (bok choy, cabbage, carrots, broccoli, snow peas, chinese corn, etc.)
• Cubed organic tofu
• Organic green onions
• Mung bean sprouts
• Fresh basil or Chinese Basil

Broth Ingredients

• 3 cups pure water
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 3/4 teaspoon cardamom, grounded 
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon ground Monk’s pepper (optional)
• 1 tablespoon Liquid Aminos (to taste)
• 3-5 star anise, whole pieces (optional)

Broth Instructions:

1. In a large pot boil water and add seasonings to pot once boiling. Let boil 15 minutes.  Scoop out the star anise, if used.
2. It is important that the broth is hot when it poured over the noodles and veggies.

To assemble the soup:

1. Prepare organic whole wheat ramen according to package. I usually let it cook for about 10 minutes instead of the recommended 5 minutes. For me, it is a bit too hard after only 5 minutes. Drain and divide into large bowls according to eating. Note: I usually cover these bowls, stick them in the oven, and add to them as I complete the next steps.
2. Cut up tofu and simmer in a bit of broth. The broth will turn slightly white; so this is not part of the broth I use for the soup. This is only to give the tofu the flavor of the broth. Drain tofu. Divide out tofu among the bowls according to eating.
3. Wash and prepare veggies ahead of time (see write up). They will need to cook for about 5 minutes in boiling water. Be sure to salt water or the veggies will be bland. Do not over salt the water. Drain. Divide into bowls according to eating, insuring that everyone has a variety of veggies.
4. Wash fresh basil and mung bean sprouts and place them in a large bowl upon the table so that the people may have an option of adding these to their soup. You may place lime wedges in that same bowl.
5. Now, that the bowls are packed. Add green onions to each of these and then pour the HOT BROTH until the broth covers the bowl contents. This is the soup. See feature picture.
6. Enjoy!!!