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Spicy Vietnamese Beef & Pork Noodle Soup - Bun Bo Hue

Bun Bo Hue | Spicy Vietnamese Beef & Pork Noodle Soup

By: Cindy Lam Lorimer
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 4 hours
Total Time: 4 hours 30 minutes
Servings: 15 bowls
If you love Pho and haven't tried its spicier, sexier cousin, Bun Bo Hue, you're missing out! This dish promises to tantalize your taste buds with its bold flavors and aromatic spices.

Ingredients

Broth:

  • 8 lbs pork neck bones
  • 2 lbs pork shoulder with bone
  • 5 lbs beef brisket
  • 3 onions, peeled and leave whole, charbroiled
  • 3 inch ginger , peeled, charbroiled
  • 10 lemongrass stalks, smashed
  • ½ cup mushroom seasoning
  • ½ cup kosher salt
  • 1 whole pineapple, peeled and cut into 4, lengthwise
  • 6-8 inches daikon, peeled
  • 2 Tbsp rock sugar
  • 2 Tbsp fish sauce

Annatto oil:

  • 1 cup avocado oil, or any neutral oil
  • 1 Tbsp annatto seeds

Saute:

  • ⅓ cup annatto oil
  • 10 lemongrass stalks, smashed and then chopped
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 2 large shallots, chopped
  • 8 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • ½ bag Gia Vi Bun Bo Hue powder, available on Amazon or an Asian market like 99 Ranch Market
  • ⅓ cup red chili flakes
  • 1 Tbsp fresh red Thai chili peppers, chopped
  • ⅓ cup fish sauce, plus 2 Tbsp
  • ¼ cup shrimp paste, Mam Tom

Additional ingredients to the broth:

  • 6 inches daikon, peel, slice into ½ inch thick wedges

Optional garnishments:

  • 4 green onions, cut into one inch pieces
  • banana blossom, thinly sliced
  • rau ram
  • onion, thinly sliced
  • cilantro, chopped
  • green onions, chopped
  • limes

Noodles:

  • 2 14 oz packages Bun Bo Hue noodles

Optional:

  • Cha Lua, Vietnamese ham for serving in the noodle soup

Instructions

Broth:

  • Parboil the pork bones, pork shoulder and beef brisket to remove all the gunk and scum.
  • Drain, rinse, clean and put in a 24 quart pot.
  • Add the remaining ingredients for the broth.
  • Fill the pot to the brim with water.
  • Bring it to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 3 hours.

Annatto oil:

  • Heat oil in a small sauce pan until it’s hot.
  • Take it off the heat, add annatto seeds and leave it in the oil for a couple of minutes. Do not have the oil too hot as it will burn the annatto seeds.

Saute:

  • In a pan on medium heat, make the sauté by adding annatto oil, lemongrass, onions, shallots and garlic and top with salt, pepper and sugar and stir fry for 10 mins.
  • Then add Bun Bo Hue powder and mix together.
  • Add red chili flakes and Thai chili peppers and mix together.
  • Finally add fish sauce and shrimp paste and mix together. Stir fry for another couple of minutes so all the flavors infuse together. Put aside.

Remaining instructions:

  • After 3 hours, turn off the heat for the broth pot.
  • Remove all the bones, onions, ginger and lemongrass from the broth and dump them.
  • Remove beef brisket from pot and submerge into an ice cold water bath. Let it sit for 5 minutes.
  • Put the brisket in the fridge, and once it’s completely cooled, take it out of the fridge and thinly slice to serve with the soup.
  • At this point, a bit of broth has evaporated. Transfer the broth to a 16 quarts pot.
  • Transfer the saute mix into the pot and bring it to a boil.
  • Add sliced daikon to the broth.
  • Reduce heat to low and let it simmer for an hour so the flavors can infuse together.
  • In a soup bowl, add cooked noodles and slices of beef brisket.
  • Pour broth to fill the soup bowl, add garnishments and squeeze a lime.
  • As an option, you can add cha lua which is Vietnamese ham, and/or beef balls and/or my Cha recipe.

Nutrition

Serving: 1bowl | Calories: 654kcal | Carbohydrates: 53g | Protein: 35g | Fat: 32g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 19g | Cholesterol: 117mg | Sodium: 4804mg | Potassium: 757mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 1605IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 58mg | Iron: 5mg

Equipment

  • 24 quart pot
  • 16 quart pot