Bun Bo Hue
Serves: 6 to 8
A deliciously spicy and fragrant Vietnamese beef noodle soup with lots of fresh herbs and garnishes.
Ingredients
For the soup broth
- 2 kg (4 ½ lb) oxtail
- 1 kg (2 lb) pigs trotters, sliced thickly (ask your butcher)
- 500 g (1 lb) beef brisket
- 6 lemongrass, bruised
- 1 large onion, sliced in half
- 5 cm (2 inches) ginger, sliced thickly
- ¼ fresh pineapple, cut in one large wedge or large chunks
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon sea salt
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon MSG, OR 1 beef stock cube OR 1 Bun Bo Hue stock cube, optional
- 1 teaspoon shrimp paste, or more to taste, see Kitchen Notes
For the satay
- 125 ml (½ cup) vegetable oil
- 4 lemongrass stalks, very finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, very finely chopped
- 2-4 tablespoons chilli flakes, preferably Thai or Vietnamese, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon gochugaru
To serve
- thick vermicelli noodles, cooked according to packet instructions (see Kitchen Notes)
- coriander, (cilantro) thinly sliced
- spring onions, (scallions) thinly sliced
- Thai basil
- bean sprouts
- lemon or lime wedges
Optional garnishes
- Vietnamese pork terrine, thinly sliced
- red chillies, thinly sliced
- Vietnamese mint
- sawtooth coriander, roughly chopped
- banana blossoms, thinly sliced
- water spinach, morning glory stems, finely shredded
- perilla leaves
- onion, thinly sliced
Instructions
To blanch the bones
- Place the oxtail, pigs trotters and beef brisket in a large pot and cover with cold water.
- Bring the water to the boil and let it bubble away on high heat for about 5 minutes. During this time, a lot of the impurities from the meat and bones will come to the surface.
- Use large tongs to remove the meat to a large colander.
- Discard the water from the pot.
- Rinse the meat under cold water to remove any impurities that might be attached.
- Place the meat in a clean stockpot and cover with cold water. For this quantity of meat, you will need about 6 litres (24 cups) of water, or enough to just cover the meat.
To make the soup broth
- Bring the pot to a gentle simmer.
- Add the lemongrass, onion, ginger and pineapple.
- Simmer the broth over low-medium heat for about 3 hours. During this time, keep skimming the surface of the broth to remove any impurities and excess fat to ensure a clean and clear broth, otherwise the broth will turn cloudy. If a lot of the broth has evaporated, top up with some boiling water so that the water remains constantly at the same level (i.e. just covering the meat).
- After 2 hours, add the sugar, salt, fish sauce and MSG/beef stock cube/Bun Bo Hue stock cube.
- After 3 hours, or when the meat falls off the bones easily and the beef brisket is very tender, remove all of the meat and bones to a large bowl.
- Remove and discard the lemongrass, onion, ginger and pineapple.
- Strain the broth through a fine sieve or a muslin cloth, and into a clean stockpot.
To season the soup broth
- Heat the broth over medium heat.
- Dissolve the shrimp paste in some water, and then add to the broth.
- Taste the broth for seasoning – you might want to add some more water if the broth is too concentrated, or perhaps some more salt or fish sauce if the flavour needs adjusting. If you are a fan of shrimp paste, you might even want to add more of this. Keep in mind that you will add the satay to the broth later for extra flavour and spice.
To make the satay
- You can make the satay while the broth is cooking.
- Heat the oil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat.
- Add the remaining ingredients.
- Cook for about 2 minutes, or until the satay smells really fragrant. Be careful to not let the lemongrass and garlic burn, otherwise it will make the soup taste bitter.
- Set aside to cool slightly.
To serve
- If everyone likes the same level of spiciness, you can go ahead and add a few tablespoons of the satay to the broth. Add enough until you have the right level of spice.
- But if you are serving children or not everyone likes very spicy food, you can instead leave the broth as is, and let everyone add the satay sauce to their individual bowls. As a general rule, use 1 teaspoon of satay for a mild spicy flavour, and 1 tablespoon of satay for a very spicy flavour. For kids, I like to add just a drop of the satay to add some colour to their broth.
- Once the beef brisket has cooled, slice it into thick slices.
- Place some noodles in large soup bowls, top with sliced brisket and the desired herbs and garnishes.
- Ladle the hot broth over the noodles. Alternatively, warm each portion individually in a saucepan on the stove to ensure it is piping hot.
- Serve immediately.
Kitchen Notes
- USING SHRIMP PASTE
I prefer to use only a tiny amount - enough to give a salty and funky kick, but not so much that it takes centre stage. If you are new to using shrimp paste, I also recommend that you only start with a small amount in this recipe. Otherwise, for seasoned shrimp paste lovers, you can add up to 1 tablespoon (or more) of shrimp paste to this broth. Each person can also add shrimp paste directly to the bowl of soup for more punch. - VERMICELLI NOODLES
For Bun Bo Hue, try to find thick round vermicelli noodles. They should almost look like thick dried spaghetti, but white in colour. Some Asian brands even indicate "Bun Bo Hue" on the packaging. At a pinch, regular thin vermicelli noodles will work too. - HOW MUCH BROTH PER PERSON
For a generous serving, I like to give each person approximately 600 ml (about 2½ cups or 3 large ladles) of broth. This should give the cook an idea of how many noodles per serving, keeping in mind that the noodles will absorb some of the broth once added, and you want enough broth in the bowl for some slurping action. - MAKE IT WITH BEEF BONES
You can substitute the oxtail for beef short ribs. In which case, you could leave out the beef brisket as the short ribs will provide plenty of meat for the dish. Alternatively, use a mixture of oxtail and beef short ribs; the bones in the short ribs add additional flavour to the broth, and if you choose meaty short ribs, you can serve the meat with the soup later. When choosing oxtail, I prefer to use small to medium pieces, especially if you plan to serve them as part of the meal. However, for Bun Bo Hue, you will still need the pork trotters which give a distinct sweetness and flavour to the broth. - SEASONING THE BROTH
This is perhaps the trickiest part of the recipe if you are a novice cook. Knowing how to balance the flavours in a recipe takes practice, and how you like your broth will be different to how others like it. If you cooked your broth at a slightly higher temperature than I did for 3 hours, more water would evaporate during cooking, and your broth might turn out more concentrated, thus requiring some diluting with water at the end. Similarly, different brands of fish sauce vary in saltiness. But if you have followed the above recipe to the letter and you think the broth is still missing something, don't be afraid to add a dash of MSG or crumble in a beef stock cube. Vietnamese home cooks do this all of the time! - HOW TO STORE THE BROTH
The broth keeps well in the fridge for several days and will turn jelly-like once cold. If you have made a large batch, you can freeze the broth in freezer bags. I recommend freezing the broth without the satay added, and to make the satay fresh when you want to defrost the broth. - FOOD STORAGE
All of the components of this dish should be kept separately in the fridge. - OVEN & STOVE TEMPERATURES
All recipes on this website have been tested on an induction stove and/or with a conventional oven (i.e. an oven without fan). All recipes on this website state temperatures for a conventional oven, unless otherwise mentioned. If you have a convection oven (i.e. an oven with a fan), please consult the manufacturer’s handbook on how to adjust the temperature and baking time accordingly. - CONVERSIONS
To convert from cups to grams, and vice-versa, please see this handy Conversion Chart for Basic Ingredients.