Bo Kho (Vietnamese Beef Stew with Lemongrass) is hearty, flavorful and fragrant. You can serve this classic dish of Saigon with banh mi (baguette) or noodles. My authentic recipe will guide you how to cook and enjoy it just like in Saigon.
What is Bò Kho
Bò kho is an aromatic Vietnamese beef stew dish in which chunks of well-marbled beef are seared and then gently braised with lemongrass. The authentic version of this dish, which I’m sharing today, also contains carrots but no potatoes. The stew can be eaten with banh mi or noodles.
You may come across different beef stew dishes in Vietnam. This one, together with this beef stew with green peppercorns, is popular in Saigon. Fun fact: if you ask a Northerner about bo kho, many of them (including me in the past) will think of an entirely different dish :).
I first knew about this dish when we moved to Saigon a few years ago. Today I’m sharing with you an authentic bo kho recipe, which was given to me straight from my Saigonese chef friend. It is one of the signature beef dishes of Vietnamese cuisine.
Ingredients
Here are the main ingredients for bo kho:
? Beef: my favorite cut for this dish is boneless beef shank which contains a lot of connective tissues. Once braised, it will become so tender and provide rich beef flavor. If you can’t find it, you may use beef chuck.
The beef will be cubed and tossed with five spice powder, turmeric powder, non-spicy chili powder such as paprika, and ground coriander seed.
? Aromatics and spices: lemongrass, garlic, shallots, star anise, and bay leaf. They will give the stew an irresistible aroma.
? Other ingredients: carrots, soy sauce, fish sauce, salt, rock sugar, and pepper. You will find the list of accompaniments to serve with this dish in the How to Serve section.
If you want this lemongrass beef stew to have a reddish color like in my photo, you will also need some annatto seeds to make annatto seed oil. It is optional and purely for aesthetic appeal with no impact on the flavor, just like in my mì Quảng recipe.
How to Make Authentic Bo Kho
It is pretty straightforward and easy to make this Vietnamese beef stew. I highly recommend using a heavy-bottomed pot such as a Staub cocotte (which I’m using here) or an enameled Dutch oven.
First, make some annatto seed oil if you decide to use it. Simply pour hot oil over the seeds, then discard the seeds and let the oil cool. You can now cut the beef into large chunks and toss with the ground spices, salt, pepper and some of the red oil.
Next, sauté the aromatics until fragrant. Then add the beef and continue to cook to brown the exterior of the meat.
Once the outside of the meat is no longer pink, add seasonings and water. You can also replace half of the water with coconut juice or beef stock for deeper flavors.
Let the water come to a boil and skim off the foam. Then cover the pot and simmer gently.
When the meat is almost tender to your liking, it’s time to add carrots. Continue to simmer until both the beef and carrots are tender. Don’t forget to taste and adjust seasonings.
The final step will be thickening the stew with some cornstarch slurry. Bo kho usually isn’t a thick stew, so please don’t overdo with the slurry.
Pressure Cooker (Instant Pot) Method for Bo Kho
I personally think the stovetop method yields a tastier result than the pressure cooker method but it does take longer to cook. If you want to make this bo kho recipe with your pressure cooker/Instant Pot, I recommend marinating the beef cubes for about 2 hours before cooking.
You can do all the sautéing steps in the pressure cooker and then cook with High pressure for about 30 minutes. After that, add carrots and simmer until everything is tender. Also thicken the stew with some cornstarch slurry.
How to Serve
There are two common ways to serve Vietnamese lemongrass beef stew in Saigon:
- with bread: you can use banh mi or regular baguettes. The dish will then be called bánh mì bò kho.
- with noodles: you can use Vietnamese rice noodles (such as phở or hủ tíu), or egg noodles. Depending on which types of noodles are used, we will call the dish mì bò kho or hủ tíu bò kho.
Saigonese love to eat phở bò and bò kho with a lot of accompaniments. Regardless of whether you serve the dish with bread or noodles, I recommend having the following:
- fresh herbs: Thai basil (húng quế), sawtooth leaves (ngò gai), and chopped scallion and cilantro.
- thinly sliced yellow onions and several slices of bird’s eye chili.
And that’s everything you need to know to make this delicious Vietnamese beef stew. I think you will find it very soul-satisfying, hearty with a wonderful aroma.
⭐️ I’d love to hear what you think about the dish, so please feel free to leave a comment and a rating if you have tried it. New recipes are added every week so let’s connect on Facebook, Youtube, Pinterest and Instagram for the latest updates. You can find my collection of Vietnamese recipes here.
