Recipes

Huê´-Style Spicy Beef and Rice Noodle Soup (Bún Bò Huê´)

  • Serves

    serves 8

By SAVEUR Editors


Published on January 16, 2008

This spicy noodle soup is an invigorating brow wiper.

Ingredients

  • 7 tbsp. canola oil
  • 3 medium yellow onions, 2 cut into 1" dice, 1 thinly sliced
  • 1 tbsp. annatto seeds
  • 2 lb. boneless beef shank (shin), halved crosswise, tendon removed and discarded
  • 1 lb. boneless pork leg, from the upper butt portion
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 4 lb. beef bones, cut into 2" pieces, boiled for 3 minutes
  • 1 1⁄2 lb. fresh pork hock, cut into 1⁄2" slices
  • 3 tbsp. plus 2 1⁄2 tsp. Vietnamese fish sauce
  • 5 trimmed stalks lemongrass, 4 cut into 3" pieces, bruised;1 minced
  • 1 1" chunk Chinese yellow rock sugar
  • 3 tbsp. dried chile flakes
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp. granulated sugar
  • 2 tbsp. fine shrimp sauce
  • 2 (14-oz.) packages large round bún (Vietnamese rice noodles), boiled, then rinsed with cold water
  • 1⁄3 cups chopped rau ra˘m (Vietnamese coriander)
  • 3 scallions, green parts only, trimmed and thinly sliced

Instructions

Step 1

For the broth: Heat 2 tbsp. oil in a stockpot over medium-high heat. Add diced onions and cook for 2 minutes. Add annatto; cook until onions are yellow, 4–5 minutes. Season beef and pork leg with salt and pepper; push onions to side; add beef and pork. Sear meat for 4–5 minutes; add bones, hocks, and 5 quarts water. Bring to a boil; skim off and discard any scum. Add 3 tbsp. fish sauce, bruised lemongrass, and rock sugar; reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour. Transfer pork leg and hocks to a bowl of cold water; let soak for 10 minutes. Simmer broth for 1 hour more. Repeat soaking and draining with shank. Chill leg, hocks, and shank in refrigerator. Skim fat from broth; strain through a fine sieve.

Step 2

Combine remaining oil, chile flakes, garlic, and minced lemongrass in a small pot over medium-low heat; gently simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in remaining fish sauce and granulated sugar. Set chile mixture aside.

Step 3

Bring broth to a boil in a large pot. In a bowl, stir together 1 cup of broth with shrimp sauce; pour into pot through a fine sieve and stir in 1 1⁄2 tbsp. of chile mixture. Season to taste with salt. Divide noodles between 8 bowls. Cut beef and pork across the grain into 1⁄16"-thick slices; top each bowl with slices, followed by sliced onions, rau ra˘m, and scallions. Add hocks to broth; bring to a boil. Ladle 2 cups hot broth with some hock into each bowl. Serve with remaining chile mixture, mint sprigs, sliced thai chiles, and lime wedges, if you like.

Continue to Next Story

Want more SAVEUR?

Get our favorite recipes, stories, and more delivered to your inbox.