Vietnamese Beef Stew- “Bo Kho” Recipe + Video

This traditional Vietnamese beef stew is very rich and savory. I love how you can see the French influence in this dish. Oxtails and beef are deeply stewed with ginger, lemon grass, and garlic along with root vegetables, aromatics and it’s also traditionally served with a warm french baguette.

This stew is sometimes red’ish in color with the addition of tomato paste and paprika. I love using oxtails because they really make your stew very rich and dark. 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.

Typically beef flank with skin is popular for this dish because it has a thin layer of skin and tendon. Beef Chuck is also popular because it is very fast to cook/stew, ready in about an hour because the meat is so tender. Tougher meats like shank and oxtail have to cook much longer like 2 hours as seen below.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 lbs beef (I used shanks with bone, but you can also use beef chuck, thick flank steak with skin/tendon…)

• *1 lb of oxtails (optional, get 3 lbs of beef if you opt without)

• *Few pieces of tendons & Cartilage (optional, my shank and ox tails had a little tendon and cartilage so that was perfect)

• 2-4 whole large carrots (cut into 1” chunks)

  MARINADE

• 2 tbs minced fresh garlic cloves minced garlic (about 4 cloves)

• 2 tablespoons minced lemon grass (bottom and mid parts, discard outer leaves and chop off rough tops, 1 stalk)

• 2 tablespoons LIGHT extra virgin olive oil

• 1 tbs minced fresh ginger

• 1 tbs salt

• 1 tbs brown sugar

• Pinch black pepper

• 3 tbs tomato paste

• 1tsp paprika

• 1 tsp curry

BROTH

• 4 cups water

• 1 cup of Coco Rico (you can add the rest of the can if you need a little more sweetness at the end)

• 1 tsp brown sugar

• 3 large carrots (peel and chop into 1.5" small pieces)

• 1-2 red thai red chili peppers (whole)

• 1" cinnamon piece

• 2 whole anise stars

• *Fish sauce (optional, I didn’t use any, but my dad likes to put a small dash at the end)

GARNISH

• 1 bunch cilantro

• 1 bunch green onions

• 1 lemon (cut into 4 wedges)

• 2-4 jalepenos (sliced in diagonal slices)

• 1 french baguette or jasmine rice to serve with
  
  

  PREPARATION

1. Mince garlic, shallots, ginger, and lemon grass separately in food processor and set aside in separate containers or bowls.

2. Marinade the meat using with marinade ingredients (garlic, shallots, lemon grass, EVOO, ginger, salt) and let marinate for 2-4 hours or preferably overnight in fridge.

3. In a large pot, heat 3 tbs of oil on med-high heat on high until glossy and thin and then add paprika and curry and mix well (do not let it burn, and remove from flames and turn down heat if it starts to smoke).

5. Transfer meat into pot and sauté meat on high for a few min on each side so they brown a little and get some color.

6. Add tomato paste continue to stir till fragrant.

7. Making the broth: Add all broth ingredients excluding carrots. Turn the heat to high until you get a rolling boil then lower to simmer. Cook until the meat is as tender about 2 hours.

*If cooking tendons or cartilage, cook these separately for 2-3 hours until tender, chop into 2" pieces, and add to the stew after it has fully cooked (stewing them in the same stew for hours can cause stew to gelatinize later when cooled). Add enough water to keep tendons covered in water, and skim off any scum that surfaces the pot.

8. When you add the carrots, also add whole Thai red chili peppers, cinnamon, and star anise. Braise with lid on for another hour on low heat until meat is tender (about 2 hours total).

9. Remove star anise pods when soup is ready. Add sugar, salt, or fish sauce to taste.

10. Transfer into individual bowls hot and garnish with a little scallions & cilantro. Serve with side of jalapeño, lemon wedges, and a warm piece of french baguette or freshly steamed jasmine rice!