If you like Phở, you will absolutely LOVE Bún Bò Huế! It’s rich and bold, and is my go to for comforting soup on a cold, rainy Seattle day. Or any day of the week, really; whether cold or not. It’s that amazing. And I predict it will soon be something many people know about, and will maybe even replace Phở as their soup of choice. It’s a spicy beef noodle soup from the region of Huế in Vietnam. It’s so goddamn delicious, ultra satisfying, and literally takes all day to make. You’ll be wanting seconds (or even thirds) for sure.
A group of my best friends are first generation refugees from Laos (many of the soups they love and enjoy share similar roots to that of Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand), and is a soup they only make during special occasions. Having been around them now for over two decades, I’ve been fortunate enough to learn how to make many of their treasured recipes, Bún Bò Huế being one of my top 5!
Below, I’ve attached a recipe that I often use as a good reference point, as many of the recipes they teach me are word of mouth, and I’ve never actually written it down. But this recipe comes from a good source, so I’d say start here if this is something you want to make. They’d kill me anyway, if was to share their family secrets!
As someone who loves to cook, I often find that after the long process I want to capture the dish in a way that entices the viewer to want to eat my food. Hopefully that was accomplished.
The tools I used for this project was my Nikon D3s, a handy dandy 50mm/1.4, and a few basic high wattage pure white light bulbs. I tried to create a dynamic shot by allowing some of the light to spill onto my scene without diffusion, flagging half the light thru a DIY diffusion board. I saw a YouTube video on it and wanted to try it out for this project. I really like the effect it made. The image seems to have life because of it. As if it was near a window, with some of the dappled light hitting areas of my scene.
I took the image into Lightroom to and did a few simple adjustments to help some of the color pop more vibrantly, but tried not to overdo it. Also, this dish made great usage of my homegrown bean sprouts. The store bought stuff just doesn’t cut it. It’s easy to do, but takes about a week. First you soak the mung beans overnight. Then you place them in a large enough jar for them to grow, all while washing them out each night so they don’t spoil. I love them, and grow them weekly. Simple nutrition. Here’s a couple of images of them.
Here’s the recipe. If you make it, please let me know. I’d love to hear what you think.
INGREDIENTS
▢2 lb (907.2 g) beef shank
▢2 lb (907.2 g) oxtail
▢2 lb (907.2 g) pork hocks
▢1 lb (453.6 g) Huế style pork sausage chả Huế, which has garlic and whole peppercorns
▢1 lb (453.6 g) block of pork blood
BROTH BASE & SEASONING
▢water I used an 8 quart pot, and added water to cover the meat.
▢24 oz chicken broth
▢12 stalks lemongrass leafy tops removed, roots smashed
▢2 yellow onions, large halved, to be removed from the broth after fully cooked.
▢3 tbsp salt
▢2 tbsp sugar
▢2 tbsp shrimp paste Lee Kum Kee brand
▢3-4 tbsp fish sauce
▢2 tsp MSG (monosodium glutamate) if not using oxtail, add 4 teaspoons
AROMATICS & COLOR
▢3 tbsp anatto seeds
▢3 tbsp neutral cooking oil
▢2 tbsp shallot sliced
▢2 tbsp garlic minced
HERBS & VEG
▢mint
▢basil
▢bean sprouts
▢birds eye chile or jalapeno
▢lime sliced
BANANA FLOWER
▢1 banana flower
▢2 cups water
▢1 lemon juiced
NOODLES
▢14 oz (396.9 g) package dried rice noodle medium or large thickness
SATÉ (SPICY CHILE CONDIMENT)
▢20 g dried Thai chile crushed
▢1/2 c neutral cooking oil
▢80 g shallot or white onion minced
▢40 g garlic minced
▢30 g lemongrass minced
▢2 tbsp Korean chile powder (gochugaru)
▢1 tbsp fish sauce
▢1 tbsp sugar
▢2/3 tsp salt
▢1/2 tsp MSG (monosodium glutamate) (I don’t add this btw!)
INSTRUCTIONS
BROTH
Clean the meat: Add all meat to a stock pot and enough water to submerge it, bring to a boil. Drain and rinse thoroughly under running water.
Add the meat, broth, lemongrass and onions to the pot and fill with water almost to the brim. Bring to a boil then drop the heat to medium-high to maintain a low boil. Add the seasoning.
Let it simmer and periodically check the meats for doneness and remove them as they finish cooking. The pork should be done after about an hour, the beef can vary between 2-3 hours.
After all the meat has removed, let it cool, then slice it. Adjust seasoning and add water to the broth pot if necessary.
Make the aromatics & coloring then add it to the pot. Boil noodles according to package instructions. Assemble your bowl, and serve with herbs and veg on a side platter.
RED COLORING & AROMATICS
Sauté seeds in oil on medium heat until the seeds give up the bright red color, then remove the seeds.
annatto seeds and oil for red coloring
Add shallots and garlic, sauté until brown.
Add all of this to the pot of broth for color.
PORK BLOOD (HUYET / TIET)
The easiest thing to do is just buy it already cooked and boil just to heat it up. If you use the raw type like we did for this recipe, cut into 1″ cubes and boil for 30-45 minutes.
BANANA FLOWER
Prepare a bowl of about 2 cups of water, mixed with the juice of 1 lemon.
Thinly slice the banana flower and add to the water mixture to sit for about 30 minutes.
SATÉ (SPICY CHILE CONDIMENT)
Weigh out the dried Thai chiles, then soak in just enough warm water to cover the chiles for 20 minutes. Drain the water.
Add all sate ingredients to a pan on medium heat and stir continuously to brown, cook, and slightly reduce the chile paste, about 30-40 minutes. If at any point it becomes too dry, you can add more oil, up to 50% of the amount we started with. Taste and re-season with sugar or salt as desired.
Let cool and transfer to a sealed jar stored in the fridge . You can add ~2 tbsp of the final product to the soup pot for a boost in flavor and color, or simply and let each person add to their bowl to make it as spicy as they’d like!
Here’s the link to the recipe for reference: https://www.hungryhuy.com/bun-bo-hue-recipe/