Bó Kho: Vietnamese Braised Beef Stew
Bó Kho is traditional Vietnamese braised beef stew with a multitude of layers of flavour. We are umami addicts, and this recipe literally makes you smack your lips with each tender mouthful – rich, deep flavours of the marinated beef, with ginger, garlic, and a hint of sweetness from the caramelised beef.
Gochujang and fish sauce add an unmistakable Southeast Asian touch: fermented rice, chilli, garlic, and good fish sauce in the stew add those multiple levels of taste which leave your lips sticky after taking each mouthful: this is umami at it’s best. It is literally lip-smacking good, and puts a warm, fulfilling feeling in your stomach.
Time: 3 hr 30 mins. Serves 8.
Full Ingredient List (serves 8)
2.5kg Beef Shank
250g Fresh Ginger
6 tbsp Fish Sauce
20g Salt
30g Brown Sugar
4 tbsp Peanut Oil
6 Shallots
4 Tomatoes
6 Garlic cloves finely chopped
5 Lemongrass stalks
1 tbsp Gochujang
1 tbsp Sweet Paprika (as a substitute for Annatto. You can also use Sweet Kashmiri Red chilli)
4-5 Star Anise
2-3 Black cardamom
10-15g Cinnamon Sticks
1 tbsp Black Pepper (coarsely crushed)
Rice Noodles 500g dry (3mm wide, but you can use whatever width you prefer)
Baby carrots 300-350g (cut into half vertically, or normal carrot cut into 7 cm chunks)
Lemongrass finely chopped
Bunch of Coriander
Bunch of mint
Thai chillies or chilli oil (to taste)
3 tbsp Toasted sesame seeds (or more if you prefer)
Quail’s eggs 2 dozen (24)
The recipe below and steps are easy and serves 8 easily.
The Beef
2.5kg Beef Shank (cut into 3 cm cubes)
150g Fresh Ginger (finely grated preferably with a micro plane)
6 tbsp Fish Sauce
20g Salt
30g Brown Sugar
Steps
1. Cut and clean the Beef Shank into 3 cm cubes.
2. Grate the ginger and place in a large mixing bowl. Tip: use a teaspoon to scrape the skin off fresh ginger – this leaves you with more of the juicy part of the ginger and wastes less. It is also much quicker than peeling with a peeler or slicing off the skin with a knife.
3. Add the salt, sugar, and fish sauce into the bowl with the meat and ginger.
4. Now with clean hands work this into the meat, massaging each cube gently until you have an even covering.
5. Cover and place in the fridge for 2 hours at least to let the marinade soak into the beef an add the zing of the ginger and the umami of the fish sauce percolate through. This will give you ample time to prepare the sauce of the stew.
The Bó Kho base
4 tbsp Peanut Oil
6 Shallots (finely chopped)
4 Tomatoes (peeled and deseeded, cut into small cubes)
100g Ginger cut into very small cubes
6 Garlic cloves (finely chopped)
5 lemongrass stalks (the white part only, finely chopped)
1 tbsp Gochujang
1 tbsp Sweet Paprika
4-5 Star Anise
2-3 Black Cardamom
10-15g Cinnamon Sticks
1 tbsp Black Peppercorns (coarsely crushed)
3-4 Litres water (depending on how “soupy” you’d like it)
Steps
1. Place the oil in a large pot and heat gently until warm, then add the shallots. Turn to a low heat and cook, stirring regularly – make sure not to caramelise them. They should be clear. This will take about 10-15 mins.
2. Then add the lemongrass, garlic, ginger, tomatoes, Gochujang, and paprika to the clear onions and simmer for another 5-10 minutes on a low heat, stirring regularly. Set aside once ready.
3. Meanwhile, in a large skillet or heavy pan, add a couple of tablespoons of Peanut Oil and brown the marinaded beef to get some caramelisation and a deep brown colour – careful not to burn. Keep the heat at medium (lower than for a steak as there is already sugar in the marinade). You can do this stage in batches so as to maintain the heat in the pan and not cool it down too much as we want to caramelise the meat, not simmer it.
4. When the meat is nicely caramelised, add it to the base, making sure you get all those lovely juices in. Add a little of the water (3 liters if you’d like more of a ragu consistency, 4 liters of you like it soupier) to the pan with the meat and swirl around to get all the caramel off the pan and into the base as well.
5. Add the rest of the water into the base, half cover with a lid and simmer for 1.5 hours.
6. Separately, gently fry the spices for a few minutes on a low heat and place in a spice bag (sachet d'épices) and into the base.
7. Cook for another 1 hour, or until the meat is tender and the collagen has broken down. If you find it has thickened too much, add some water to the consistency you’d like.
Plating
While the meat is simmering, prepare the carrots and rice noodles, toast the sesame seeds, and prepare the quail’s eggs.
60-70g Rice noodles
300g Baby carrots (approximately: cut into halves or normal carrot cut into 7 cm chunks)
5 Lemongrass stalks (finely chopped)
Bunch of coriander
Bunch of mint
Thai chillies or chili oil (to taste)
2-3 tbsp Toasted sesame seeds
24 Quail eggs
1. Heat your oven to 220C Fan. Place the chopped carrots in a bowl and drizzle some peanut oil to lightly cover and add 1-2 pinches of salt to taste. Transfer to baking tray with baking paper and place in pre-heated oven.
2. In a pan place 10x the water as the noodles (70g = 700ml water). Boil for 6-7 minutes and drain and wash with warm water and set aside until final plating.
3. Chop the coriander and the lemongrass finely and mix together and set aside.
4. Boil some water and add the quail’s eggs for 2-3 minutes. Then place in iced water and set aside.
5. Heat the oven to 80C and place your bowls in for a few minutes.
6. Place the rice noodles, carrots, and coriander in the bowls and add the hot soup.
7. Add some chilli, toasted sesame seeds, a dash of good fish sauce, and some lime to taste.
8. Garnish with the Quail’s eggs and mint and coriander.