Recipe: Vietnamese Pho With Pulled Oat Veggie Balls

“This dish is the ultimate healthy dish for January. The broth is high in nutrition, high in protein, low in fat and quite warm for these cold winter months” – Patrick Clement, business development chef at Sysco.

This vegan spin on a staple of Vietnamese cuisine is the perfect way to kick-start your 2020. Deep in flavour and substance, this dish proves that vegan recipes can really pack a punch. Add in some deep-fried Pulled Oat ® veggie balls, the trendy new meat alternative which adds a bit of crunch and texture to the flavourful broth.

If vegan isn’t your thing then that’s no problem, just switch the pulled oat veggie balls for some marinated chilli and ginger chicken thighs, or some hearty pork meatballs. With a few alternatives, you can add a whole pho section to your menu for your customers.

Ingredients

• 2 sticks of Santa Maria cinnamon (SP289)
• 3 cloves (Z494014)
• 1 Santa Maria star anis (PU345)
• 1 large white onion, peeled and quartered (VW707)
•  4 pieces of fresh ginger, peeled and halved lengthwise (VW764)
• 1 ltr of vegetable stock or broth
• 1 ltr of water
• 2 tbsp. of soy sauce (OR574)
• 150 g rice noodles (OR570)
• 1 tbsp. sesame seed oil (OR342)
• 120 g thinly sliced shiitake mushrooms (VW768)
• 50 g chopped spring onions (VW710)
• 5 g chopped deseeded chilli (VW658)
• Carrots peeled and cut into julienne (VP692)
• Fresh coriander (HB578)
• Fresh flat parsley (HB583)
• Pak Choy (VW407)
• Pickle ginger (OR223)
• Santa Maria black pepper (SP293)
• Santa Maria Pulled Oat ® veggie balls (VG968z)
• Lime (FW580)
• Salt (SP148)

Method

1. Put the broken cinnamon sticks, cloves, and star anise into a pot and roast until fragrant, stirring occasionally, for 3 to 4 minutes. 
2. Add the burned onion, ginger, vegetable stock, water and soy sauce. Bring the pot to the boil and simmer for 30 minutes for all the flavours to infuse.
3. In the meantime, prepare your rice noodles and keep aside.
4. Panfry the sliced shiitake mushrooms with some sesame seed oil and season.
5. Strain out the onions, ginger and spices from the broth and check seasoning. 
6. Add the cooked noodles, mushrooms, spring onion, chilli, julienne of carrots, chopped Pak Choy, a little pickled ginger, veggie balls and fresh herbs into warm bowls and add a ladle of hot broth.
7. Garnish with some lime and serve immediately with chopsticks and soup spoons.

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