Colors of Life…

Entries from February 2008

Vegetarian Pho

February 15, 2008 · Leave a Comment

This was the second time me making this vegetarian pho.. It was pretty good but still tastes different because it didn’t have the beef broth. I found the recipe when I was browsing the internet. Here is the recipe:

Vegetarian Pho

 

Ingredients

for the broth…
1 small unpeeled onion, quartered
2 unpeeled shallots, halved
8 garlic cloves, halved
a 1-inch piece of ginger, coarsely sliced
two 3-inch cinnamon sticks
2 pods of star anise
4 cloves
8 cups clear vegetable stock (I use Swanson’s broth)
3 tablespoons soy sauce

salt

to garnish …
1 pound rice noodles
8 ounces fried tofu, sliced
6 scallions, thinly sliced (both green and white parts)
about 1-1/2 cups bean sprouts
a good handful of basil, mint or cilantro leaves, left whole
1 lime, cut into wedges
hoisin sauce
sriracha chili paste

Cooking Instructions

To make the broth, heat a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion, shallots, garlic, ginger, cinnamon sticks, star anise, and cloves and dry-roast, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables begin to char. Add the stock and soy sauce and bring to a boil over high heat. Turn the heat down to medium-low, cover, and simmer for about 25 minutes. Strain into a clean pot and discard the solids. Taste the broth and add salt if necessary. Keep warm over low heat.

While the broth is simmering, prepare the rice noodles. Place the noodles in a large bowl. Pour boiling water over the noodles to cover and soak for 20 minutes.

When you are ready to assemble the bowl of pho, add tofu to the warm broth and allow to heat through. Drain the soaked rice noodles and divide evenly among 4 to 6 large bowls. Using a spoon, scoop the tofu out of the broth and distribute among the bowls. Ladle the hot broth over the noodles. Serve the bowls of pho with the scallions, bean sprouts, herbs, lime wedges, hoisin sauce and chili sauce on a separate platter so that everyone can season their own soup as they wish.

Makes 4 to 6 servings

 

 

Categories: Vietnamese Food

Valentine’s Day

February 15, 2008 · Leave a Comment

This is my 1st blog after a very very very long time and I thought I should continue writing again. Let’s see how long this will last me and keep me busy :)

This Valentine’s Day seems to be just another usual day.. Well… not exactly because it’s freaking cold today.. it’s about -14F now and will probably drop to -20F later at night.. and that without the wind chill!! Oh My Goshh!!! can you imagine it with the wind???????

Because of the cold today, we decided just to stay home and rest and study. I was sleeping on my futon in the afternoon and I heard a knock on the door.. I wasn’t really expecting any company today or any parcel since my sister just sent my parcel yesterday from Canada. Brad, my fiancee opened the door and there was a big box for me.. I was like.. Hummppphhh.. Must be flowers from Christine.. and very true it was flowers!! It’s a pretty modern kind too. The flowers were frozen when they arrived, so I gotta wait for them to “defrost” a little :)

And the day just went on…………………………………..

Brad went for his test and I was home trying to cook some nice dinner.. Guess what I’d cook.. Vietnamese Pho.. It wasn’t that yummy but it was not too bad. I love to eat Pho very very much but every Vietnamese restaurant I went to, their soup is made out of beef broth. Sigh.. I am a vegetarian and even if i am not, I cant eat beef either.. So I cooked the vegetarian version of Pho.. It tasted kind of tasteless and plain with no fat in any oil :D Guess it’s healthy food. :) Then, we had this yellow cake that I baked in a terracota mug. Bought it from the mall long time ago and I decided I should eat most things in my kitchen before I move to save some energy :) It didn’t taste as delicious as the cake that I baked before but it was ok for a simple dessert.

Well, while I was home preparing things,Brad went to get some stuff after his test.. “surprise gift” according to him. He got me lilies.. It’s very pretty and it has this interesting smell to it. He wanted to get me the doggie stuff toy that you can put the hands in at the tummy to warm the hands up. But they don’t have it at the store anymore and instead he bought me fancy photo frames!!! It’s really nice and expensive too!! I’m still trying to convince him to return it though because we need more money now :)

Anyway, I can’t post any pics this time because my XD card was being retarded and not co-operating with any of the lap tops and computer in this apartment. :(

I am off to bed now since I have 8am class tomorrow.. So long for now.. Take care guys!!

dscf0492-1.jpg

Flowers from Christine

dscf0497.jpg

Flowers from Brad

Vegetarian Pho

Vegetarian Pho

Categories: Celebrations
Tagged: