66 posts Posts by julie

vietnamese beef stew (bo kho)

by on October 19, 2011, 5 comments

Fall is well under way here on the Hill. That means lovely cool days, gorgeous colors, scarves, boots, hot apple cider… Indeed, after growing up in Canada, then spending high school and college in the desertlands of Arizona, one of the major things I celebrate about being in the Northeast is having distinct seasons. I love all of them! There is something about seasonal change that my body and soul cannot live without — the cyclical nature of time and growth, the end of one thing and the beginning of another.

Among the many things that fall marks is harvest time and the change in the foods available to us and what we eat. Hot stews make some of the greatest meals now, and this one is a favorite in our household. You might say fall came early over here, as both my husband and his dad love slow-cooked meats and stews, so when my father-in-law came for a visit in August, this was an obvious dish to put on the menu.

Bo kho is actually my husband’s favorite Vietnamese dish. It’s his regular order at any Vietnamese restaurant that serves something other than pho. And what he loves even more than slow-cooked meats is soft, gelatinous beef tendon. So when we make bo kho at home, we make sure to include plenty of that.

Bo kho is another one of those French-influenced Vietnamese dishes. It’s essentially a French ragout with Asian spices. In Vietnam, it’s actually eaten for breakfast and often with a baguette for sopping up the sauce. At Vietnamese restaurants in North America, you will often have the option of eating bo kho with baguette, rice noodles, or egg noodles, all of which make for a hearty, comforting meal. It’s served with Thai basil, a squeeze of lime, and a dipping sauce of salt, pepper, and lime.

Bo Kho
Makes 6 servings

This can be made in either a slow cooker or a Dutch oven. Beef tendon is very tough and requires cooking separately for several hours to become tender. We like our tendon super soft and gelatinous rather than chewy, so we simmer it for a good number of hours, until it can be easily sliced through, before adding it to the stew to simmer even longer and to soak up some flavor.

1.5 lbs beef tendon
1 tsp baking soda
1.5 lbs beef chuck or shank

Marinade:
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 Tbsp fish sauce
1 6-oz can tomato paste
2 bay leaves
2 star anise
3 cloves
3 stalks lemongrass, cut into 4-inch pieces and bruised
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp 5-spice powder

2 Tbsp vegetable or canola oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
beef broth or water
3 medium carrots, cut into thick slices

Accompaniments:
baguette, rice noodles, or egg noodles
Thai basil
lime wedges
salt, pepper, and lime dipping sauce

1. Boil a pot of water with the beef tendon and 1 tsp of baking soda. Simmer for 3 hours or until tendon becomes tender enough for a knife to cut through it with some ease. You may want to simmer this in a slow cooker overnight, so that the tendon is ready to cook in the stew the next day. When tendon is tender, drain and rinse. Cut the tendon in half lengthwise and then into pieces about 2 inches long.

2. Wash and pat dry the beef chuck or shank. Cut into 1.5-inch cubes. Mix in the marinade ingredients. Let marinate for 30 minutes and up to overnight.

3. Heat the oil on medium-high, and then add the crushed cloves of garlic. When the garlic begins to brown, add the marinated beef chuck/shank, along with all the marinade ingredients, and let it brown. You may want to do this in several batches to avoid overcrowding the pot, so that the meat sears rather than steams. Put all the meat, plus the cooked tendon, back into the pot. Then add enough beef broth or water to cover everything by an inch or so.

4. Let the stew simmer on low for about 3 hours. (You can also transfer the stew to a slow cooker at this point and cook on low overnight.) Add carrots to cook during the last half hour.

5. Serve the stew in shallow dishes with baguette, or serve over rice or egg noodles. Include Thai basil, lime wedges for squeezing over, and salt, pepper, and lime dipping sauce for the meat.

salt, pepper, and lime dipping sauce (muoi tieu chanh)

by on October 19, 2011, 0 comments

This dipping sauce is so simple, I feel silly posting a recipe for it. But I didn’t want to risk it being overlooked for its simplicity, as it is surprisingly tasty, particularly with grilled meats. I especially love it served with bo kho (Vietnamese beef stew) and bo luc lac (“shaking” beef). The fresh tartness of the sauce helps offset the richness of the meat. Vietnam also grows peppercorns (Phu Quoc island is known for its peppercorn farms), and I’d often see people grind the peppercorns themselves in a small mill, which makes for wonderfully fragrant pepper that further enhances this simple dipping sauce.

1 part kosher salt
1 part freshly cracked black pepper (or try it with white pepper as well)
wedge of lime

This dipping sauce is usually served on small condiment plates for each individual, with a wedge of lime sitting next to or over the salt and pepper, so that the diner can squeeze it him/herself.

steamed rice noodle sheets (banh uot)

by on October 5, 2011, 0 comments

Some people have childhood memories of their moms making pancakes on weekend mornings. My sister and I have memories of our mom making banh uot or Vietnamese steamed rice noodle sheets.

When I visited Vietnam last year, I got to watch the ladies at the markets making these fresh. It’s a painstaking process that involves pouring rice flour batter in crepe-like fashion over a steamer that resembles a drum. And then you use a chopstick to carefully lift the delicate sheet off.

Now, my mom never made rice noodle sheets from scratch. She bought them premade, rolled up in a bundle from the store. But my sister and I were delegated the task of separating the individual sheets from the bundle and tearing them into smaller pieces. It was perhaps almost as painstaking a process. But it also meant we were all in the kitchen making breakfast together.

A little while back, my husband and I took a short roadtrip to Philly and discovered a huge Vietnamese supermarket there, where I found fresh rice noodle sheets. I couldn’t resist getting some, bringing it back with us, and making our own Sunday morning breakfast of banh uot.

Steamed Rice Noodle Sheets (banh uot)
Serves 2-3

1 12- to 14-oz package of rice noodle sheets
scallion oil
1/4 steamed pork roll (cha lua, also known as Vietnamese ham)
bean sprouts
1/4 cucumber, julienned
Vietnamese herbs, such as mint, Vietnamese coriander, red perilla, etc., cut into a chiffonade
fried shallots
nuoc cham sauce

1. Separate the rice noodle sheets and tear into pieces about the size of your palm.

2. Divide the rice noodle sheets into individual-size servings and set on plates. Drizzle a bit of scallion oil over each plate. Heat each plate in the microwave for about a minute. (My mother always used the microwave, but you could also steam it in a bamboo steamer or a wok.)

2. Cut the steamed pork roll into thin slices. Lay over the rice noodle sheets.

3. Top the rice noodle sheets and sliced pork roll with a handful of beansprouts, julienned cucumber, chiffonaded Vietnamese herbs, and a sprinkling of fried shallots. Serve with nuoc cham dressing.

scallion oil

by on September 28, 2011, 0 comments

Scallion oil is one of those things that I hesitate to call a garnish, simply because it adds so much more than just a final flourish to a dish. I have a friend who loves this stuff so much that I always made sure I had some on hand when I knew she was coming over. She, like me, loved simply mixing it with white rice and then adding nuoc cham sauce. I’d usually serve this with grilled pork chop, but I don’t think she (or I) would’ve minded just having the rice.

In Vietnamese cuisine, scallion oil is often drizzled over rice, noodles, rice noodle sheets or rolls, and banh hoi or rice vermicelli sheets. It adds a fragrance and richness to the otherwise bland starch. Usually, nuoc cham dressing is also mixed in as well when the dish is served.

Scallion Oil
Makes about 1/4 cup

3 scallions, chopped
1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
1-2 cloves garlic, minced (optional)

Put the chopped scallions in a heatproof bowl. Heat the oil in a small skillet or saucepan over medium-high heat. Test to see whether the oil is hot by dropping in a piece of chopped garlic or scallion and seeing if it sizzles. When hot, add the garlic (if using) and allow it to turn golden. After the garlic has turned golden, take the pan off the heat and immediately pour over the chopped scallions. The oil may splatter a little bit, so stand back. The scallions should sizzle and then wilt. Drizzle over rice, noodles, or noodle sheets. Keeps for about a week in the refrigerator. Return to room temperature before serving.