Vegan Bún bò Nam Bô
This noodle salad is packed with fresh vegetables, herbs, baked tofu and the best sauce that brings it all together! It is very quick to make and I’m sure you’ll enjoy it for dinner!
In case you don’t know what Bún bò Nam Bô is, it is a Vietnamese noodle salad originally made with beef - but in our vegan recipe we replaced it with tofu. It is served with sauce that is made with fish sauce, which gives it quite specific taste but in my opinion the vegan variation I made is equally as good!
I personally love Vietnamese food. Unfortunately it is not that popular here in the UK but whenever I go to Prague, I have my favourite places to go. You see there are lots of Vietnamese places all around Prague so you can have Bún bò Nam Bô, Bánh-mí or amazing rolls anytime you want (and that is often for me). So making this dish at home makes me so happy! It is a perfect summer lunch, it is quickly prepared and come to think of it, it is actually very easy to make a big batch of it and have it thorough the week! So if you’re looking for vegan Bún bò Nam Bô recipe, this is the place so let’s go and make it!
What ingredients do you need?
You basically need a lot of vegetables! Then a very important ingredient is tofu - use either firm or medium firm, don’t use silken tofu. I didn’t use any marinate on tofu I just baked it - and I recommend you to try the same - it is very nice! What makes this food is the sauce - normally it is made with fish sauce which has a very interesting taste but of course, as vegans, we don’t want that. You have two choices - use either vegan fish sauce or use tamari. I used tamari for this recipe and it is not far off the original sauce! Another recommendation - don’t skip peanuts and fried shallot. It is great to have something crunchy on top of this noodle salad and fried shallot can only make food better.
If you want more recipes like this vegan noodle salad, be sure to check out:
Cold Soba Noodles with Tahini and Miso Sauce
Tofu Bowl with Spicy Peanut Butter Sauce
If you make this vegan Bún bò Nam Bô, and take photos of it, be sure to tag me on instagram - @bigbakesmanifesto and use hashtag #bigbakesmanifesto too! I love to see people making my recipes.
Serves 2
Ingredients
200 g firm tofu
1 big carrot - julliene (thin strips)
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp peanuts
1 shallot - sliced
1 tsp cornstarch
2 tsp oil
150 g vermicelli noodles (rice noodles)
1/2 cucumber - julliene
1 head of little gem lettuce - roughly cut
coriander, mint
Sauce
30 g sugar
1 garlic clove - minced
1/2-1 chili pepper (preferably bird’s eye) - thinly sliced*
50 ml tamari (or vegan fish sauce)
50 ml lime juice (2 limes)
150 ml warm water
Method
Cut tofu into slices (around 2 cm), place them on a flat surface lined with a clean towel (or paper towels), cover them with another layer of towels and place something heavy on top - I usually use a cookbook. Press it for around 20 mins.
Mix cut carrots with 1/2 tsp sugar, 1/4 tsp salt and move aside - it will get a bit more tender.
Heat up a frying pan over medium heat, add peanuts and dry roast them for about 5 mins. Remove them from the pan and crush them (not completely, bigger pieces are good).
Preheat oven to 200C/180C (fan). Take pressed slices of tofu, cut them into cubes, move on a lined baking sheet and bake for about 20 mins. Turn them around half way through.
Mix sliced shallot with 1 tsp cornstarch. Take the frying pan that you used to roast peanuts, heat up 2 tsp oil in it, add shallots and fry for about 6 mins. Remove shallots from the pan and put them on a paper towel to get rid of excess oil.
Mix sugar, garlic and chili in a mortar and beat it together with pestle. Add lime juice and mix it a bit more, just to be sure that all the sugar has dissolved. Move it to a glass, add tamari and warm water and mix well. (If you don’t have pestle and mortar, just mix everything together in a glass straight away.
Make noodles according to the packet instructions.
It is ready to serve - first put noodles into two bowls, follow with all the vegetables, add tofu, lots of sauce and top it up with fried shallots, crushed peanuts and coriander and mint if you fancy.
Notes
I used whole chili pepper but if you are a bit worried it might be too hot, use half and taste it - it is always easier to add :) And if I can give you an advice - wear gloves when you cut chili peppers, or go and wash your hands and a knife straight afterwards. Just don’t touch anything - especially eyes.