Ramadan Challenge: Halal Vegetarian Pho

So lately, I've been unleashing my inner Asian and I've been craving some delicious pho. However, since I'm Muslim, I abstain from eating meat or anything that contains meat product from restaurants unless it is Zabihah Halal. Pho generally has beef in it and the vegetarian pho could have a meat based broth. The one place I can get truly halal (and vegan) pho is this place called Loving Hut. LEMME TELL YOU. Loving Hut's pho is truly delicious, but it's $5 for a small bowl. In my eyes, that's expensive so I went on the hunt for a halal pho recipe! Turns out, there are none.

And that's when I decided to create my own. Enjoy!

Prep: 20 min
Cook: 30 min
Yield: 2 servings

Ingredients (broth):

- 4 cups of vegetarian broth. I the used "Better than Bouillon" base.
- 1 large onion (peeled and halved)
- 1 piece of ginger, halved
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 or 3 cloves
- 1/2 tsp of coriander
- a couple of pieces of star anise (mine were crushed on accident)
- 2 tsp on soy sauce

1. Because I am using a veggie base and not an already prepared broth, I needed to make it! I followed the directions on the back of my base and conformed it to the 4 cups of broth I needed to make.

2. Char the ginger and onion halves in the toaster oven or over an open flame. I didn't have a handy open flame so I went ahead and stuck the pieces in the toaster oven for 15 minutes at high on broil.

3. Plop the pieces into the broth that you prepared. Keep the broth boiling and add in the cinnamon, coriander, soy sauce, anise, and cloves. Boil for 30 min.

Here you can see the delicious onion flavoring the veggie broth. Thank you, Samsung Galaxy S4, for gif's.

4. While the broth is boiling, begin cutting up and preparing the garnishes and noodles! I'm not big on garnishes and the first couple of times I made this pho, I did prepare it with noodles. However, lately, I've been enjoying the broth more than anything so I kind of turned my pho recipe into soup. But it's okay! A few garnishes you could use are: green onions, chili peppers, lime, cilantro, basil.

5. After you wash, chop, and present your vegetables on a serving plate, it's time to prepare the noodles! I bought regular pho noodles from a local asian store. I followed the directions on the back, soaking them for about 15 minutes and then cooking them in boiling water for 5 minutes. 

And you can see fruits in the background for my Ramadan iftaar :)

Once your broth and noodles are finished cooking, stick a few noodles in a bowl, pour some broth in there, and garnish! My pho isn't very pho-y but it's what I preferred today for my iftaar. 

This a quick, healthy, and perfect dish for iftaar during Ramadan! It's healthy and light so you have more room in your stomach for other food, refreshing because it opens up your sinuses and just makes you feel really great, and quick! 

~Misbah