Irving has always liked pho, but I’ve always been a little neutral about it. I basically saw it as a delivery system for hoisin sauce—yum!—but never really got into it—slurping noodles, drippy broth, and too many bean sprouts! Anytime we’d go to the food court Irving would order his pho fix, but I would steer clear! So when I saw that Pacific Foods had a new vegan pho soup base I started making pho at home. Irving really liked it, and I liked being able to make it will exactly the toppings (and broth to noodle ration) I wanted!
One day this past summer I had gotten all of the ingredients ready to make some pho and realized that only a crazy person would eat hot soup when it was 90 degrees out. So I changed plans and turned it into a Pho Fusion Noodle Salad. We all loved it—so I made this over and over and over this summer!
Then, a few weeks ago I found a box on my doorstep from Marukan vinegar, with rice wine vinegar (the kind I normally use!) and a new Yuzu Ponzu sauce. Ponzu sauce is a soy dressing, and the yuzu gives it a slight citrus flavor, similar to lemon. I added these into my dressing mix and it was a hit! If you can’t find ponzu sauce, you can substitute soy sauce. Also on my step that same day was a box from Go Picnic with snacks inside—being a blogger pays….in free samples!
^^^ all of this in one day!
I really like shredding the veggies like this because they look pretty, they incorporate into each bite easily, and David can’t pick them out! You can up the quantity of veggies if you want, but that just gets a little too healthy for us! We loooove our noodles (as evidenced by my late night instagram feed)! Radishes are also great in this, broccoli would be good, bell peppers, red cabbage, bean sprouts, and of course avocados—whatever you like! It’s great fresh with warm noodles, and it’s also yummy cold the next day! Make sure you save some for leftovers!
^^^ Obligatory baby pic—already have this cute boy keeping me company in the kitchen—he supervised the shredding of the veggies! Can’t wait to cook with both of my boys together!
All of the delicious flavors of Pho without the slurpy mess!
30 minPrep Time
15 minCook Time
45 minTotal Time
Save RecipeIngredients
- ¼ c soy sauce/aminos
- ¼ c Ponzu Sauce (if you can't find ponzu sauce, you can use soy sauce instead)
- ½ c seasoned rice wine vinegar
- 2 T agave
- 2 T hoisin sauce (I like Soy Vay)
- 6 servings rice noodles—this will depend on which kind you use—you can use prepared like Annie Chun udon noodles (now found at Costco!), Nona Lim, or even more traditional Annie Chun boxed vermicelli or pad thai noodles
- 2 zucchinis (organic—non organic zucchinis can be GMO!)
- 2 carrots
- 2 scallions
- handful of cilantro
- 2 blocks of firm tofu
- oil for frying (I like Avocado oil)
- optional—salad greens
Instructions
- Press your tofu (either wrapped in a paper towel between two plates, or in a tofu press—this one is on my Christmas wish list!). Slice into desired size.
- Mix dressing ingredients thoroughly. It should make about 1 ¼ cups. Reserve a ½ c to marinate your tofu.
- Place sliced tofu in a bowl with marinade for about 30 minutes, turning/gently shaking every few minutes to get it all coated.
- Prepare noodles according to package directions. I like to fry up the fresh noodles, you know, to optimize....healthiness! Just warming them up would be sufficient though, and better for you! Toss warm noodles in ½ c of the remaining dressing, leaving ¼ of a cup.
- Pan fry/sear marinated tofu in batches, removing to a paper plate covered in a paper towel to absorb excess oil.
- In the meantime, shred carrots and zucchini. I like using my julienne peeler! Slice scallions and chop cilantro. Mix them in with cooked noodles and remaining sauce.
- Serve the noodles piled in a bowl and topped with a few slices of the tofu (you can pile up the noodles on a big bed of greens first if you want!). Garnish with more cilantro if desired. Enjoy!
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