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№ 625 · Vietnamese

Bò Kho (Vietnamese Beef Stew with Star Anise)

Tempo

1h 10

Picante

Dificuldade

Médio

Rende

6porções

Ingredientes

Marinade (30 min minimum)

1 kg

peito bovino (brisket) cut into 4cm chunks — músculo (shin) also excellent

3 tbsp

fish sauce

1 tbsp

Chinese five-spice (Liberdade, SP — *cinco especiarias chinesas*)

1 tbsp

brown sugar

1 tbsp

ground ginger

1 tbsp

annatto powder (urucum em pó — Brazilian markets, gives the orange-red color) OR 1 tbsp paprika doce + ½ tsp paprika defumada

garlic cloves, minced

lemongrass stalks, white parts only, finely minced

Cook

2 tbsp

neutral oil

large onion, diced

carrots, in 3cm chunks (added later, in stage 2)

250g daikon (nabo) or large white turnip, in 3cm chunks (optional, classic)

3 tbsp

tomato paste

250ml coconut water (água de coco — the bottled or fresh, not coconut milk)

500ml beef stock or water

star anise

cinnamon stick

bay leaves

1-2 dried red chiles (or 1 tsp Cepera Mexicano)

lemongrass stalks, bashed and tied in a knot (whole, for braising)

2 tbsp

soy sauce, to finish

Salt to taste

To serve

Banh mi rolls (French rolls, baguette, pão francês) — Vietnamese street version

OR fresh rice noodles (banh pho) — sit-down version

Lime wedges

Fresh coriander, chopped

Thai basil (manjericão tailandês) leaves

Bean sprouts (broto de feijão)

Sliced fresh red chile or sriracha

Modo de preparo

01**Marinate.** Combine beef with all marinade ingredients. Mix well. Let sit 30 min to 2 hours.
02**Brown the beef.** Heat oil in pressure cooker. Brown the marinated beef in 2 batches, hard, 4-5 minutes per batch — the marinade caramelizes onto the meat creating a flavorful crust. Remove to a plate.
03**Sweat onions.** In the same pot, add diced onion. Cook 5 minutes until softening. Stir in tomato paste, cook 1 minute.
04**Build braise.** Pour in coconut water and stock, scrape the bottom. Add star anise, cinnamon, bay leaves, dried chile, knotted lemongrass. Return beef to pot.
05**Pressure cook stage 1 (beef).** Lock lid, high pressure, **35 minutes**. Natural release.
06**Stage 2 (vegetables).** Open lid. Add carrot and daikon chunks. Lock lid again, high pressure, **8 minutes**. Quick release.
07**Adjust.** Discard star anise, cinnamon, bay leaves, lemongrass. Stir in soy sauce. Taste — should be savory-sweet, fragrant with star anise, slightly chile-warm. Adjust salt. If too thin, sauté mode reduce 5 minutes. If too thick, splash of water.

Bò Kho

Vietnamese beef stew — think of it as phở's heartier cousin. Beef braised with lemongrass, star anise, ginger, tomato, and coconut water until spoon-tender, then ladled over banh mi (French bread) for breakfast or rice noodles for dinner. The pressure cooker takes 2 hours of slow simmer to under an hour.

Heat: 2/5. Background warmth from chile and aromatics. Easy to scale up or down.

Tame it

Heat 1/5: skip dried chile entirely; serve sriracha at table for those who want
Heat 0/5: as above, plus skip the chile garnish

Sub: bottled chiles only

Replace dried chiles with 1 tsp Cepera Mexicano. The annatto is for color, not heat.

Serving

Bo kho with bread is the classic Saigon street breakfast: tear a piece of banh mi or French bread, dip into the broth, eat the meat and vegetables with a spoon. The bread soaks up everything.

Bo kho with noodles is the sit-down dinner: rice noodles in a deep bowl, ladle of stew over the top, garnishes piled on, lime squeezed at table.

Notes

Annatto for color is the secret. Without it the stew is brown; with it, vivid orange-red — visually unmistakable bo kho. If you can't find urucum, paprika doce + smoked paprika does an OK job.
Coconut water, not milk. Different ingredient. Coconut water gives subtle sweetness and a clean profile; coconut milk would turn this into a different (creamier) curry.
Lemongrass is the soul of this stew — both the marinade (minced) and the braise (knotted). Don't skip.
Make ahead. Day 2 is better. Freezes well.
Variations: add 200g potato in stage 2 for a heartier bowl. Or replace some beef with a beef tendon (tendão bovino) for the silky-gelatinous texture Vietnamese love.