The Ultimate Spicy Delicious Bun Bo Hue!

BUN BO HUE

Spicy Lemongrass Beef Soup

Taken by Susan Tran 

Time: 1 hour and 20 minutes

Cost: $25

Serving: 4 serving 

Are you suffering from a bad headache after your crazy late Friday night? Are you suffering from that nasty flu that blocks off your sinus from the rest of the world? The word Pho is blinking nonstop on your mind? I need to get some is all you can think of? We all have been there! It isn’t fun. But no worries! I am here to save you!

Hue City 

Bun Bo hue, originated from the Royalty Hue’s City, located in the northern part of Vietnam. People in this region can really handle their spices. Bun Bo Hue is a very spicy soup with a strong lemongrass aroma. Fresh lemongrass sticks are smashed flat and added into the broth. The soup I want to share with you is extremely good for flu season, bad hang overs and freezing cold weather. The lemongrass will clear out the nasal passages and the spices will make the sweats work as if we are in a sauna room.

Fully credited to quinn.anya

Ingredients - things we need to purchase:

-          2 large 32 quart pots

-          1.5 lbs pork bones

-          1.5 lbs beef bones (optional)

-          1.5 lbs chicken bones

-          1.5 lbs sliced ham hocks

-          1.5 lbs beef shank

-          2 pieces of pig feet cut (when purchase, you should ask them to cut it into 1 inch)

-          2 small yellow onion

-          1 small bag of beansprout

-          1 small cabbages or banana blossom

-          Mints (Vietnamese mint and Thai basil)

-          1 bunch of cilantro

-          1 bunch of green onions

-          1 lime

-          Oily chili ( if you don’t have them. You can buy chilli flakes and minced up lemongrass to prepare them at home)

-          1 table spoon of salt

-          1 table spoon of sugar

-          1 teaspoon of Shrimp paste

Are you ready to test it out for yourself? Let the magic begin!

ALWAYS START OFF with WARM OR HOT WATER so the ingredients will cook faster and we won’t have to waste the 3 minutes waiting for it to boil hot.

Beef shank Image credit to Ideas in Food

Prepping for the Special BROTH: POT NUMBER 1 (Time: 7 minutes)

*Before starting on the Broth itself all meats (listed below) must be cooked at high boiling temperature for 7 minutes. Why? Cooking like this can help you obtain clearer broth at the end. When cooking at this temperature an oily and brown cloudy substance will form at the top layer so it will be easier to scoop out.

*The beef bone is optional because beef bone tends to leave a brown broth which is not clear like the typical chicken broth.

2 large 32 quart pots

1.5 lbs pork bones

1.5 lbs beef bones (optional)

1.5 lbs chicken bones

1.5 lbs sliced ham hocks

1.5 lbs beef shank

2 pieces of pig feet cut (when purchased, you should ask them to cut it into 1 inch chunks)

AFTER 7 MINUTES.. Scoop out all ingredients, rinse it with cold water and transfer all solid ingredients into pot 2.

Full credit to Malcolm Morley

FINAL BROTH: (Time:1 hour)

After transferring the solid over, fill the pot with warm water so you can conserve more time.

Leave the pot on the stove with medium heat so there won’t be any bubbly bubble boiling. Too hot and boiling bubbly can ruin the broth.

-          Meat and bones from pot 1

-          Add in one peeled yellow onion

-          1 tablespoon of sugar

-          1 tablespoon of salt

-          Add the smashed lemongrass (You should be able to smell the fragrance of lemongrass)

30 MINS later you can scoop out the pork meat

1 hour later the beef should be good to go and ready to be slice.  

WHILE WAITING FOR THE BROTH TO COOK we can save time by jumping over to the sink and washing all the herbs and also prepare the noodles.

Taken by Susan Tran 

FRESH HERBS & SAUCE: (20 minutes)/(cost: 3 dollars)

While waiting for your soup, to conserve time, hop over to your sink and wash the veggies needed for the soup. The following herbs will need to be washed and set on your clean dry plate:

(It’s best if you wash the herbs and veggies and place them in a basket with a bowl underneath so your herbs and veggies will be dry by the time you set them on your plate)

-          Banana cabbages (sliced) if not regular slice cabbage would work too!

-          Fresh herbs mints wash

-          Bean Sprout wash (optional)

-          Wash and chop up yellow onion, green onion, and cilantro, mixed them together.

Taken by Susan Tran

Chili for the broth: dry chili flakes and frozen minced up lemongrass (could be purchase at the local market) heated (separated) on the pan for a quick 3 minutes and add in bowl together. Lastly, add cooking oil. 

                                                                    Alarm clock 
30 minutes is up!!

Scoop out the pork and slice them up, here we can also work on slicing up the fancy pork patty (cha lua)

1 Hour is up!!!

Check and see if the meat is fully cooked, if it is:

-          Slice up the final beef shank

-          Add in 1 teaspoon of shrimp paste into the broth ( we add it in now because the shrimp paste has a very strong scent and we don’t want the meat to soak it up and make it hard for the consumer to eat it)

-          Have the noodle in bowl, add the meat topping on and one teaspoon of chili

-          You may pour the soup in now and add the chopped cilantro, yellow and white onion topping on it. Don’t forget the chili!

Enjoy! Do you have a different simpler way of making bun bo hue? Did you have any memorable experience when you had your first bun bo hue?