Vietnamese Beef Stew (Bo Kho)

A Vietnamese Beef Stew (Bo Kho) which is fragrant with lemongrass, star anise and cloves. Serve with crusty baguette or flat rice noodles. Recipe also for Instant Pot and pressure cooker.

Vietnamese Beef Stew (Bo Kho)

With all of the French recipes I have been posting lately on this blog, I thought it was time to change the tune a little and post one of my favourite Vietnamese recipes. But as I set about preparing this post, I realised that this particular dish is actually a Vietnamese version of a French classic. Or is it?

There are many who claim that Vietnamese Beef Stew, known as Bò Kho in Vietnamese, is derived from the French Boeuf aux Carottes. But upon closer inspection of both recipes, beef and carrots is pretty much all they have in common.

Where the French version is simple and comforting as a mere braise of beef and carrots with perhaps some tomatoes and thyme for additional flavour, the Vietnamese counterpart is fragrant with lemongrass, cloves, star anise and Chinese five-spice powder, and has a spicy kick when served with Thai basil and red chillies.

My mother used to only make this stew on special occasions, such as when we had guests over for dinner. But now that I find myself typically cooking stews and braises for dinner parties because of the convenience of being able to make them ahead of time, I suppose this was my also mother’s tactic when she was entertaining.

How to Make Vietnamese Beef Stew (Bo Kho)

My mother first taught me to make Bo Kho using a packet of pre-mixed spices from the Vietnamese grocery store which was employed in the marinade for the meat.

There’s nothing wrong at all in using these pre-mixed spices; I probably would have continued to do so but for the fact that I moved to Switzerland and the variety of Asian food products here is rather limited (although continually improving).

I had experimented with several recipes for this dish over the years with vague success until, one day, a good friend of mine revealed that her secret ingredient was … Coca-Cola.

I gasped in shock, although I shouldn’t have been so surprised because I had seen recipes for this dish using Coca-Cola or Sarsparilla, but had dismissed them on the grounds of lacking authenticity.

But as this dear friend happens to be a fine Vietnamese chef who very rarely shares recipes, or secret ingredients for that matter, I regarded this momentary drop in guard as something not to be ignored.

Coca-Cola sounds to be an unusual ingredient but the bubbles have a marvellous way of tenderising the meat, and the sugar content of this fizzy drink means that you can dispense with any sugar in the dish. If you’re a bit apprehensive about using Coca-Cola, don’t be; you need barely a glassful for this recipe.

How to Serve Vietnamese Beef Stew

This particular stew typically has bite-sized pieces of beef and carrots which are eaten with chopsticks, and the liquid broth is intended to be sipped with a spoon.

French inspiration can certainly be found in how the dish is served; the Vietnamese usually eat Bo Kho with some crusty baguette (preferably from a Vietnamese bakery) to soak up the aromatic broth, but it can also be served with some flat rice noodles for a more Asian affair.

Being married to a Frenchman who I frequently confuse with the simultaneous use of chopsticks with knives and forks, I tend to make this stew so that it can be eaten more elegantly with just a knife and fork, although any attempt at refinement is often lost because you really do need to use your hands to dip the bread into the broth.

But I have noticed that our French friends find a way to neatly soak the bread with their cutlery before cutting it into bize-sized pieces, thereby avoiding any caveman-like use of their hands. Or perhaps they just weren’t sure how to eat the bread because, in contrast to what the Vietnamese (in Vietnam) think, the French tend to only reach for the bread at the start of the meal or when the cheese course is served.

When serving Vietnamese Beef Stew, the bread is actually a significant component (think half a baguette per person).

Tips For Making Vietnamese Beef Stew

To make this dish knife and fork friendly and a bit more elegant, I prefer to use large pieces of braising meat (about 1 to 2 per person) rather than small, diced up pieces. The large pieces take a little longer to cook, but I find the texture to be much nicer and more tender. But feel free to use smaller pieces as this is more traditional.

I also love carrots in my stew and tend to go rather overboard with them, so use as little or as much as you like, noting that the carrots will add a subtle sweetness to your stew.

And in an effort to make this stew less meat-heavy, I also like to add baby onions, another tip from my friend in her rare moment of recipe bonding. I think the baby onions add a touch of refinement to the dish, but be careful because not everyone likes onions, even if they’re small and cute.

Vietnamese Beef Stew (Bo Kho)

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A Vietnamese Beef Stew (Bo Kho) which is fragrant with lemongrass, star anise and cloves. Serve with crusty baguette or flat rice noodles. Recipe also for Instant Pot and pressure cooker.

• Author: Thanh | Eat, Little Bird
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 2 hours
• Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
• Yield: Serves 4-8
• Category: Instant Pot
• Method: Stove
• Cuisine: Vietnamese

Ingredients

For the marinade

• 1 teaspoon Chinese five-spive powder
• 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
• 250 ml (1 cup) Coca-Cola
• 1.5 kg (3 lb) beef brisket or chuck steak

For the Beef & Carrot Stew

• vegetable oil
• 1 brown onion, finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 4 tablespoons tomato paste or 1 x 400 g (14 oz) canned diced tomatoes
• 2 litres (8 cups) beef stock
• 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 3 star anise
• 3 cloves
• 3 lemongrass stalks, bruised
• 5 large carrots (or more), peeled and sliced thickly (about 1 cm thick) on the diagonal
• 1 large daikon, peeled and sliced thickly (about 1 cm thick)

To serve

• Thai basil
• red chillies, finely chopped

Instructions

Instructions for stove top

1. Cut the beef brisket or chuck steak into large pieces and place in a large zip-lock freezer bag.
2. In a bowl or jug, mix together the ingredients for the marinade.
3. Pour the marinade into the freezer bag.
4. Close the bag securely and make sure all of the meat is coated in the marinade.
5. Marinate the meat in the fridge for 2-3 hours, but preferably overnight.
6. In a large saucepan, heat some oil and brown the beef in batches. Due to the sugar content in the Coca-Cola, the meat will brown quickly and will burn easily if you do not keep a close eye.
7. Set the browned beef aside in a bowl.
8. In the same pan, cook the onions and garlic until they have softened.
9. Add the tomato paste or canned tomatoes and cook for a few minutes.
10. Add the stock, salt, star anise, cloves and lemongrass.
11. Bring to the pan to the boil and return the meat to the pan, together with the carrots and daikon.
12. Simmer gently on low heat for about 2 hours, or until the meat is tender.
13. Skim off any excess fat.
14. Taste for seasoning.
15. Serve with Thai basil and chillies.

Instructions for pressure cooker

1. Follow the recipe as above, but use slightly less liquid than stated in the recipe (about 1.5 litres or 6 cups). Make sure that the pan is not more than 2/3 full with ingredients, and that the liquid does not cover the meat and vegetables.
2. Cook in the pressure cooker according to the manufacturer’s instructions, but it should take about 25-30 minutes at high pressure.
3. After this time, carefully release the pressure before removing the lid to check if the beef is tender.
4. Skim off any excess fat.
5. Taste for seasoning.
6. Continue to simmer on medium heat on the stove (without the lid) so that the sauce can thicken a little. This should take about 10 minutes or so.
7. If you are in a hurry, you can thicken the sauce by stirring through a cornflour slurry. To make the cornflour slurry, whisk together 1-2 tablespoons cornflour (cornstarch) with a bit of cold water. Add the cornflour slurry to the sauce a little at a time, until the sauce has thickened to your liking.

Instructions for Instant Pot

1. Follow the recipe as above until Step 6.
2. Use the Sauté function for Steps 6 to 11.
3. Use about 1.5 litres or 6 cups of stock. The liquid should not cover the meat and vegetables.
4. Once all of the ingredients are in the Instant Pot, set the Instant pot to Manual at High Pressure for 30 minutes.
5. Once the time is up, do a quick release.
6. Taste for seasoning.
7. Continue to simmer on medium heat (without the lid) so that the sauce can thicken a little. This should take about 10 minutes or so.
8. If you are in a hurry, you can thicken the sauce by stirring through a cornflour slurry. To make the cornflour slurry, whisk together 1-2 tablespoons cornflour (cornstarch) with a bit of cold water. Add the cornflour slurry to the sauce a little at a time, until the sauce has thickened to your liking.

Kitchen Notes

VARIATIONS
* Use whole baby carrots in place of normal carrots. Take care not to overcook them as they can break and disintegrate.
* Add whole, peeled baby onions. Take care not to overcook them as they can break and disintegrate.
* Add whole, peeled baby potatoes. The starch from the potatoes will help to thicken the sauce as well.

SERVE WITH BREAD
This dish is traditionally served with loaves of crusty baguette which are used to dunk into the sauce.

SERVE WITH NOODLES
For a gluten-free meal, it is also common to serve this dish with flat rice noodles. Cook the noodles according to the packet instructions until they have softened. Drain and lightly rinse the noodles. Place a serve of noodles into a large bowl, and ladle just enough broth to cover the noodles and top with the meat, vegetables and garnish.

CONVERSIONS
To convert from cups to grams, and vice-versa, please see this handy Conversion Chart for Basic Ingredients.

Nutrition

• Serving Size: Nutritional info per serve
• Calories: 461
• Sugar: 6.7g
• Sodium: 3130.3mg
• Fat: 29.3g
• Carbohydrates: 14.9g
• Fiber: 2.6g
• Protein: 33.6g
• Cholesterol: 102.2mg

#eatlittlebird

Update

This recipe was first published on 6 February 2014. It has been updated with more comprehensive recipe notes.

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