Vietnamese Spicy Beef Noodle Soup (Bun Bo Hue)

Updated at: Thu, 17 Aug 2023 13:30:59 GMT

Step 1

Clean the bones and meat: To a large stock pot, add bones and boneless shanks (do not include the Vietnamese ham!) and 2 teaspoons salt. Cover with water and heat on high. When pot reaches a rolling boil and impurities float to the top, turn off heat. Place a colander in the sink and drain the contents of the pot into the colander. Thoroughly rinse bones/meat under cold running water and drain dry. If using boneless pork shank, wrap up meat into a tight bundle with twine. This will make it easier to slice when it's finished cooking. Wash the pot thoroughly and return it to the stove. Transfer parboiled bones/meat to pot and fill with water (4 liters). Add lemongrass bundle, white/yellow onions, ginger, and pineapple. Heat on medium-high/low simmer for 2 to 2-1/2 hours. Occasionally skim surface of the stock to keep it clear.

Step 2

Remove pork blood from its container by cutting the seal between the pork blood and container with a long knife. Gently tilt container sideway to slide out pork blood into a large bowl then cut into cubes. Fill a small pot with 2-3 inches of water. Add salt, shallot and ginger. Heat pot to a low simmer. Add pork blood and cook for one hour. The low heat will prevent a honeycomb texture. After one hour, drain and rinse pork blood with cold running water. Store cooked pork blood in water and set aside.

Step 3

Back to the stock pot: After one and a half hour of cooking, check the boneless shank for doneness by piercing it with a chopstick. It's done when chopstick pierces easily and water runs clear. Remove and discard all bones, but if you are using knuckles and hocks, do not discard. They are commonly used as a meaty topping. Transfer all knuckles, hocks to an iced bath to cool. Leave the other aromatics in the stock pot for now. When knuckles, hocks and boneless shanks are cooled completely, remove them from the iced bath. For boneless shanks, cut them into thin circular slices and set aside. For any large hocks and knuckles that are too big, cut them into bite-size pieces and set aside. Continue to cook the stock with the aromatics for another 30-45 minutes on a low simmer.

Step 4

After 30-45 minutes, remove all solids from the stock pot. Season stock with chicken stock powder, fish sauce, sea salt, sugar and MSG (optional).

Step 5

Prepare the sate/chili oil. In a medium-size saucepan, heat up annatto oil. Add shallots and fry until water dries up and shallot become fragrant. Add half of the fried shallot to the stock pot. Back to the saucepan, add lemongrass. Pan fry until fragrant. Lastly, add garlic and pan fry until fragrant. Add red pepper flakes, chili powder and fish sauce/shrimp paste. Mix until thoroughly combined and heat on medium-low for 2-3 minutes. Add half of this sate/chili oil to the stock pot. Reserve half to serve on the side.

Step 6

In a medium-size stock pot, cook the noodles for 20-25 minutes until soft (disregard package instructions of cooking for only 3-5 minutes. That's not long enough!). Place a colander in the sink and drain noodles into the colander. Rinse with cold water to prevent sticking.

Step 7

To assemble, place a handful of noodles into bowl. Add desired amount of sliced boneless shanks, pork knuckles/hocks, sliced Vietnamese ham (Cha Lua/Gio Lua) and 2-3 cubes of pork blood cubes. Ladle in hot broth. Garnish with sliced green onions, yellow/white onion and cilantro. Serve with a platter of fresh vegetables (bean sprouts, banana blossom, lettuce, etc.), lime/lemon wedges, shrimp paste and sate sauce.

↑Support creators by visiting their site 😊

0 liked

0 disliked