Bún Bò Huế - Spicy Vietnamese Beef & Pork Noodle Soup
User Reviews
5
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Prep Time
30 mins
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Cook Time
3 hrs
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Total Time
3 hrs 30 mins
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Servings
8 bowls
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Calories
12767 kcal
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Cuisine
Vietnamese
Bún Bò Huế - Spicy Vietnamese Beef & Pork Noodle Soup
Description
This Bún Bò Huế recipe starts by thoroughly cleaning and boiling assorted beef and pork cuts to create a deeply flavored stock. Lemongrass and onions infuse fresh aroma, while shrimp paste and fish sauce add umami depth. The broth is seasoned with salt, sugar, and optional monosodium glutamate, then simmered for hours to soften the meats.
Annatto seeds are gently sautéed in neutral oil to produce a bright red color and subtle earthy flavor, which is combined with shallots, garlic, minced lemongrass, gochugaru, and spices to form a spicy condiment that colors and flavors the broth further. Meat is sliced and arranged in serving bowls with cooked medium to large rice noodles. The soup is served paired with an array of fresh herbs—mint, basil, coriander—bean sprouts, lime wedges, and sliced bird's eye chilies or jalapenos for added heat and freshness.
The result is a hearty, spicy soup with tender meat, a richly spiced and flavored broth, and textural contrasts from the noodles and fresh garnishes. It balances savory and spicy elements with bright herbal accents, making it a distinctive and satisfying Vietnamese specialty.
Optional side condiments such as saté chili paste add further heat as desired. The soup’s complexity and layered flavors stem from its long simmering time and careful preparation of aromatics and spice oil.
Ingredients
- 2 lb beef shank
- 2 lb Oxtail
- 2 lb pork hocks
- 1 lb pork sausage chả Huế, which has garlic and whole peppercorns, Huế style
- 1 lb pork blood block
Broth base & Seasoning
- water I used an 8 quart pot, and added water to cover the meat.
- 24 oz chicken broth
- 12 talks lemongrass leafy tops removed, roots smashed
- 2 yellow onion halved, to be removed from the broth after fully cooked, large
- 3 tbsp salt
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp shrimp paste Lee Kum Kee brand
- 3-4 tbsp fish sauce
- 2 tsp monosodium glutamate if not using oxtail, add 4 teaspoons, MSG
Aromatics & Color
- 3 tbsp annatto seeds
- 3 tbsp neutral cooking oil
- 2 tbsp shallot sliced
- 2 tbsp garlic minced
Herbs & Veg
- mint
- basil
- bean sprout
- bird's eye chili or jalapeno
- lime sliced
Banana Flower
- 1 banana flower
- 2 cups water
- 1 lemon juiced
Noodles
- 14 oz rice noodles medium or large thickness, dried; package
Saté (spicy chile condiment)
- 20 g Thai chili crushed, dried
- 1/2 /2 c neutral cooking oil
- 80 g white onion minced, or shallot
- 40 g garlic minced
- 30 g lemongrass minced
- 2 tbsp gochugaru Korean chile powder
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 2/3 /3 tsp salt
- 1/2 /2 tsp monosodium glutamate MSG
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.
- 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.
- Avoid adding little fronds (that look like mini bananas), removing them as you encounter them. They taste bitter!
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 reseason with sugar or salt as desired. See photo for how the final product should look.
- 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!
Notes
- The saté chili condiment recipe was added on 2/11/2021 and complements the soup’s spice.
- Calorie content per bowl may be lower than listed since not all saté chili condiment is consumed per serving.
Nutrition Information
Show DetailsNutrition Facts
Serving: 8bowls
Amount Per Serving
Calories 12767 kcal
% Daily Value*
| Serving | 0g | |
| Calories | 1276.7kcal | 64% |
| Carbohydrates | 61.37g | 20% |
| Protein | 89.95g | 180% |
| Fat | 73.1g | 112% |
| Saturated Fat | 20.9g | 105% |
| Trans Fat | 0.2g | 10% |
| Cholesterol | 330.02mg | 110% |
| Sodium | 4939.39mg | 206% |
| Potassium | 1181.93mg | 25% |
| Fiber | 2.55g | 10% |
| Sugar | 7.32g | 15% |
| Vitamin A | 671.03IU | 13% |
| Vitamin C | 18.37mg | 20% |
| Calcium | 143.14mg | 14% |
| Iron | 11.91mg | 66% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
User Reviews
Overall Rating
5
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