Featured on Tastemade: Vietnamese Beef and Lemongrass Stew- Vietnamese “Bo Kho” Shortcut Recipe
What a perfect winter stew for the season- Vietnamese beef stew with carrots, lemongrass and ginger.
+ Plus, did you know that you can also harvest lemongrass leaves as well as the lower bulbs? I like to create little lemongrass wreathes and freeze them in zip lock bags, they too are a chock full of lemony ginger goodness!
Bo Kho, “Bo” translates to beef, and Kho translates to “braise” in Vietnamese- the beef is stewed until it creates a beautiful broth and the meat turns fork tender and flavored with aromatics like star anise, ginger, shallots and lots of lemongrass. It’s similar to a traditional beef stew but this is more aromatic with the use of Southeast Asian herbs and spices.
Later carrots and other vegetables (root vegetables such as daikon, potatoes…) are added to round out this rich savory dish. The deep red color comes from the addition of tomatoes, tomato paste (or tomato sauce), and annatto oil.
What makes this dish a little different from other recipes is that my mom also uses a dash of curry powder, and uses aromatics like star anise and cinnamon.
Beef Chuck and shanks are popular cuts for this dish because because the meat gets super tender. My mom however has her own shortcut method that uses pre-cubed beef. You can literally see this packaged in the meat aisle as “beef stew meat”. But be sure to throw in some oxtail or some fattier meats like oxtail or cross cut beef shanks if you want that luxurious silky & sheeny broth.
My favorite way to have this is with a wedge of lime with a warm French baguette.
For my parent’s non-short cut edition of Bo Kho recipe, click -here-
INGREDIENTS
2-2.5 lbs of beef stew cubes (cubed beef cross-cut shanks, beef chuck or brisket, flank steak, boneless short ribs or beef chuck. Combination of shanks or flank with tendons attached, oxtail, and tendon are the most common cuts for this).
Few oxtail pieces and/or tendon (*optional)
Beef Marinade:
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
1/2 tsp curry powder
1 tablespoons LIGHT olive oil or vegetable oil
2 tbs minced garlic cloves (about 3-4 cloves)
2 tablespoons minced lemon grass (bottom and mid parts, discard outer leaves and chop off rough tops)
1/4 tsp 5-spice powder
1 tbs fish sauce
Beef Stew:
3-4 tbs light olive oil (or vegetable oil)
1/2 large onion (sliced into big quarter half moons)
2-3 dried whole chili peppers (optional for heat)
2 lemon grass stalks (about 5-6” piece, lower bulbs)
1 lemongrass leaf wreath (*optional for more lemongrass flavor)
1/2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp smoked paprika powder
1 tbs tomato paste
1 cup water (or enough to cover meat)
1 can of diced tomatoes (14.5 ounce)
1/2 teaspoon annatto powder (*optional for that extra red/orange color)
1 knob of ginger (3 pieces, peeled and sliced thin)
2 star anise
1 piece of cinnamon about 1” long
4 carrots (sliced 1/2” thick chunks or diagonals)
GARNISH
Cilantro
Lime or lemon wedges
Red onion (optional, thinly sliced)
Scallions (optional)
French baguette
PREPARATION
Marinate the meat by adding beef into a large bowl and adding all marinade ingredients, mix with your hands or chopsticks and marinate for at least one hour in fridge (marinate overnight in fridge for best results).
In a large 5 qt pot, add oil to coat the bottom of the pan (about 3-4 tbs of oil) and turn heat up to medium to medium high heat.
Toss in onions and chili peppers and stir until coated with oil (about 30 seconds). Then remove peppers and onions and transfer to a clean bowl.
Add another 1 tbs oil, 1 tsp curry powder and paprika, and mix until curry powder turns a bright vibrant color and fragrant. Then add meat and let brown on each side on medium heat.
Stir in tomato paste and add about 1 cup water, and diced tomato and cover pot with lid, add ginger, red chili peppers (crack apart one or two of the chili peppers in for added heat), star anise, cinnamon stick and lemongrass and mix, let it come to a bowl, then lower to a low simmer and let it braise for about an hour. You don’t need to pour all the water in yet because the meat juices will render out.
Slowly add remaining water and continue to braise (with lid on) for about another 1-2 hours until meat is fork tender (depending on what cut of meat, this could be longer as well). Mix occasionally to turn meat.
When meat is tender, add in your carrots and cook until tender. Taste broth, add salt as needed or a little fish sauce (about 1-2 tsp of fish sauce).
Then add onions and mix.
When ready, garnish with cilantro or basil leaves. Squeeze a little lime or lemon and serve with a warm baguette.