Spicy Beef Noodle Soup / Bún Bò Huế
Bún Bò Huế is Phở's spicy and sassy ass cousin. While the two share some similarities, the differences and beauty of each dish are major. Here's how to make it!
- Prep time
- 1 hr
- Cook time
- 4 hr
- Yield
- 6 servings
- Difficulty
- MEDIUM
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 8 quarts Water
- 2 lbs Beef Knuckle
- 2 lbs Beef Rib Bone
- 2 lbs Pork Hock
- 2 lbs Beef Shank
- 1 Yellow Onion
- 3 stalks Lemongrass
- 1/2 Pineapple
- 2 inch knob Ginger
- 2 tbsp MSG
- 4 tbsp Fish Sauce
- 1 inch nub Rock Sugar
- 1/4 cup Annatto Seed Oil
- 2 stalks Lemongrass
- 1 Shallot
- 4 cloves Garlic
- 4 tbsp Red Chili Flakes
- 2 tbsp Sugar
- 2 tbsp Fish Sauce
- 1 tbsp Shrimp Paste
- 1 lb Eye of Round, Thinly Sliced
- Cha Quế (Cinnamon ham)
- Coagulated Pork Blood
- Red Cabbage
- White Onion
- Green Onion
- Cilantro
- Lime
- Bun Bo Hue Thick Rice Noodles
Instructions
- 1
Parboil beef bones, pork hocks, and beef shank. Then rinse and clean the pork under cold water
- 2
To a clean stockpot, add eight quarts of water and bring it up to a boil. Add cleaned beef, onion, ginger, lemongrass, and pineapple. Bring back up to a boil, skim off any impurities, and let that simmer covered for one hour
- 3
After an hour, remove the onion and ginger so they don’t disintegrate into the broth and help keep the broth clean. Let that simmer for another hour, and then pull the pork hock. At the two-and-a-half to three-hour mark, pull the beef shank, wrap it in plastic wrap, and then put it into the fridge to cool down to slice later
- 4
While the broth is simmering, make the sate sauce by combining annatto seed oil, minced lemongrass, shallots, and garlic in a saucepan. Season with red chili flakes, sugar, fish sauce, and shrimp paste
- 5
Season broth with rock sugar, MSG, and fish sauce. Add half the sate, and reserve the other half to use as an additional topping
- 6
If you're using coagulated pork blood, cut it into one-inch cubes, add it to boiling water, and cook for 15-20 minutes until tender
- 7
Thinly slice the eye of round against the grain. Cut Cha Quế (Vietnamese cinnamon ham) into slices and prep the rest of the toppings and garnishes. Shred red cabbage or banana blossom. Thinly slice white onion, and submerge in cold water to remove raw onion flavor. Cut green onions, cilantro, and lime
- 8
Cook thick rice noodles in salted water. Beware that depending on which brand of rice noodles you use, the cooking instructions are very off. The package will say to cook for 7-8 minutes, but I've found that you actually need to cook for 30-35 minutes to get them to al dente
- 9
Assemble the bowl by adding noodles, toppings, broth, and garnishes