Bun Bo Hue

This is a spicy Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup. It has to be one of my favorites. It is packed with flavor and such a comfort food for me. I've never made it before, and my mom hadn't either, so we decided to try. I'm happy with how it came out, but it was EVEN BETTER the next day. The list of ingredients may be intimidating but I swear it's not so bad and it's pretty easy if you do it in 3 steps!

Broth Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs Beef Bones

1 1/2 lbs Pork Hocks (cut into smaller pieces, ask your butcher to cut it for you)

1 lb Beef Shank (or beef brisket)

12 cups Water

Broth Spices:

1 Onion

4 stalks Lemongrass

1-2 whole Star Anise

1 Yellow Lump Rock Sugar (3cmx2cm, or 2 tablespoons brown sugar)

4 slices Ginger

4 cloves Garlic

5 Kaffir Lime Leaves

2 tbsp Shrimp Paste

6 tbsp Fish Sauce

Salt to taste (start with 1/4 tablespoon of salt and add up if you want it more salty)

Sate Chili Ingredients:

7 tbsp Vegetable Oil

1 tbsp Annatto Seeds

2 tbsp Chili Flakes (add more to make it more spicy, less to make it less spicy)

1 tbsp Lemongrass finely minced

2 cloves Garlic finely minced

3 Shallots finely minced

Noodles & Meats:

1 package Rice Vermicelli Noodles

1 package Vietnamese Pork Sausage (Cha Lua)

Cooked Beef Shank from the broth (sliced)

Cooked Pork Hocks from the both

Toppings & Garnishes: (Pick and Choose!)

Thai Basil

Mint

Green Onions

Bean Sprouts

Lime Wedges

Birdseye Chilli

Crushed Red Peppers

Thinly Sliced Onions

Deep Fried Onions or Shallots

Thinly sliced Banana Blossoms

Cilantro

Thinly Sliced Red Cabbage

Jalapeno slices

Bun Bo Hue flavor paste (optional for robust flavor)

Instructions:

1. In a large pot, add cold water into it and add all the meats. Set the stove to medium, to medium high heat and boil for 15-20 minutes until you see all the bits and frothy blood on the surface of the water.

2. Discard the water and clean out the pot. Using your fingers, gently clean the meat off with water and remove any residue. Add the meat back into the clean pot

3. Remove any dried outer leaves from the lemongrass and cut off the dried tips at the top. Smash the lemongrass stalks to release the oils. Keep the lemongrass intact and add to the pot.

4. Peel the onion and cut it in half, peel the garlic and keep it intact and put them in the pot.

5. Add in the ginger slices, sugar, lime leaves, star anise into the pot

6. Add in 12 cups of water (or more to cover) and set the heat to medium low and keep it at a low rolling boil.

7. Mix the shrimp paste with 1/4 cup of water and add it into the pot.

8. Add in the fish sauce and boil for 1.5 hours.

9. Once 1.5 hours, remove the beef shank and set it aside covered for use later. Continue to stew the broth for another 1.5 hours.

10. When the broth is done, discard the lime leaves, ginger, garlic, lemongrass, star anise and onion. Taste the broth, add additional fish sauce to the broth for more flavor if needed.

11. Remove the pork hock and beef bones and set it aside covered for use later.

12. In a sauce pan, set the stove to medium heat and add in the annatto seeds and stir it for 3-5 minutes until the oil turns a bright red color. Discard the annatto seeds. Add in the chili flakes, lemongrass, garlic and shallots and toast it in the oil for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the oil cool, then add it to the broth.

13. Make the noodles according to the package. Run the noodles under cold water once it is done cooking to remove the extra starches and to stop the cooking process.

14. Thinly slice the beef shank, Vietnamese sausage and chop the pork shank and add it all to the bowl.

15. Add in the noodles and the broth, add in garnishes and toppings and enjoy hot!