How to Make Delicious Vegetarian Stock from Vegetables, Roots and Fruit

Vegetarian eating is becoming more and more popular, but not everyone knows how to cook tasty, appealing vegetarian dishes. A good stock is the key to a delicious vegetarian dish, so here VN Cooking shares its secrets for making vegetarian stock from vegetables, roots and fruit.

Stock is an essential component that largely determines the flavour of many dishes, such as bun, pho, egg noodles and hu tieu. When cooking vegetarian food, we almost always need a vegetarian stock made from vegetables, roots and fruit to give the broth its natural sweetness.

Mushroom stock:

Mushroom stock is the key to a delicious vegetarian mushroom hotpot.

The sweetness of mushrooms is much loved because it really whets the appetite. But a good stock needs great care; otherwise it can turn bitter and develop an unpleasant smell. The most important rule is never to use spoiled or damp mushrooms. Soak the mushrooms in lightly salted water and rinse them thoroughly to remove dirt and harmful bacteria. For a richer flavour, add some ginger to the pot. Mushroom stock is ideal for mushroom hotpot, hu tieu, pho and more.

Vegetable stock:

When making stock from leafy vegetables, separate the leaves and stir-fry them briefly in a pan, then add water and bring to the boil. Take special care not to simmer it for too long, as the greens will turn yellow and smell stale. Vegetable stock is used for soups, broths and instant noodles.

Vegetable stock has a natural sweetness and makes wonderfully tasty soups.

Root vegetable stock:

Root vegetables have a natural, sweet and refreshing flavour and can be used in plenty of tasty dishes. Simply peel, wash and cut them into bite-sized pieces, then simmer them in a pot for the stock you want. When simmering roots, use just enough water to draw out all the sweetness and only add more when needed.

With starchy roots such as sweet potato, taro and cassava, long simmering will make the stock cloudy. This kind of stock suits soups, sauces and stir-fries.

Nut and seed stock:

No talk of vegetarian stock would be complete without stock made from nuts and seeds. Parboil them, remove the skins and then simmer. For a thicker stock, toast them until golden, rub off the skins, blend until smooth and strain to collect the liquid.

This stock is used for curries and sauces.

Fruit stock:

Fruits such as apples and pears suit long-simmered dishes, while fresh produce such as tomatoes, bell peppers and cucumbers are the main ingredients when you want to make thick soups or stock for broths and bun noodle soups.

Vegetarian soup is easy to make and loved by many.

We hope VN Cooking has given you useful tips on making vegetarian stock for your family menu. Good luck putting them into practice!