Spicy Lemongrass Beef Noodle Soup (Bun Bo Hue)

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

Hue's fiery beef-and-lemongrass noodle soup, rebuilt for a single evening at home. Beef shank simmers with bruised lemongrass and pork broth base until fork-tender, then everything gets finished with a scarlet lemongrass-annatto-chile satay oil — the ingredient that actually makes this bowl taste like Bun Bo Hue. Thick round rice noodles, shrimp-paste depth, and a mountain of herbs and shredded cabbage on top.

Ingredients

• 2 lb bone-in beef shank, cut into 1 1/2-inch thick rounds
• 1 lb pork hock or country-style pork ribs (optional, for body)
• 10 cups water
• 3 tablespoons pork or pork-bone soup base concentrate (Vietnamese or Korean style)
• 5 stalks lemongrass, tough tops trimmed
• 1 large yellow onion, peeled and halved
• 2 inch piece fresh ginger, halved lengthwise
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon Vietnamese fermented shrimp paste (mam ruoc or mam tom)
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar, plus more to taste
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt

• 1/2 cup neutral oil
• 1 tablespoon annatto seeds
• 3 tablespoons minced lemongrass (tender lower stalks only)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons minced shallot
• 1 1/2 tablespoons Korean or Vietnamese coarse red chile flakes
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

• 14 oz dried thick round rice noodles (bun bo Hue style) or fresh thick rice noodles
• 8 oz Vietnamese pork sausage (cha lua), sliced into batons
• 1/4 small green cabbage, very thinly shredded
• 2 cups mung bean sprouts
• 4 stalks scallions, thinly sliced
• 1/2 small red onion, sliced paper-thin
• 1 cup cilantro leaves and tender stems, chopped
• 1 cup Thai basil or Vietnamese perilla leaves
• 2 limes, cut into wedges
• 2 Thai chiles, thinly sliced (optional)

Instructions

1. Put the beef shank and pork hock (if using) in a large pot, cover with cold water by 2 inches, and bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Boil hard for 5 minutes, then drain into a colander and rinse each piece under cold running water to remove the gray scum. Scrub out the pot. This parboil is what gets you a clean, clear broth without hours of skimming.
2. Return the rinsed meat to the clean pot with 10 cups fresh water. Bruise 4 lemongrass stalks with the back of a knife, fold them in half, and add them along with the halved onion and ginger. Bring to a boil, then reduce to the barest simmer, cover partially, and cook 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours, until a paring knife slides into the shank with no resistance. Skim any foam in the first 15 minutes.
3. While the broth simmers, make the satay oil. Warm the 1/2 cup oil with the annatto seeds in a small saucepan over low heat for 3 to 4 minutes, until the oil turns deep orange-red. Do not let it smoke or the color turns brown and bitter. Strain out and discard the seeds, then return the oil to the pan.
4. Add the minced lemongrass, garlic, and shallot to the annatto oil and cook over medium-low heat, stirring often, for 5 to 6 minutes until fragrant and just starting to color at the edges. Kill the heat, stir in the chile flakes, 1 teaspoon sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt, and let the residual heat bloom the chile for 1 minute. Scrape into a bowl and set aside.
5. Pull the meat out of the broth with tongs and let it cool 10 minutes. Strain the broth through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean pot, discarding the aromatics. Slice the beef shank off the bone into 1/4-inch thick slices across the grain; pull the pork off the hock in chunks. Set the meat aside, loosely covered.
6. Season the strained broth: whisk in the pork soup base concentrate, fish sauce, 1 tablespoon sugar, and 2 teaspoons salt. Dissolve the shrimp paste in 1/4 cup of the hot broth in a small bowl, let the grit settle for a minute, then pour just the liquid into the pot, leaving sediment behind. Finely mince the remaining lemongrass stalk's tender core and add it. Simmer 15 minutes.
7. Stir about half of the satay oil into the broth and taste hard. It should be aggressively savory, faintly sweet, and pungent from the shrimp paste — adjust with fish sauce, sugar, or salt. Add the sliced pork sausage and the reserved meat and keep at a low simmer while you cook the noodles.
8. Cook the rice noodles in a separate large pot of boiling unsalted water according to the package, usually 8 to 12 minutes for dried, until fully tender with no chalky center. Drain and rinse briefly under warm water to stop the cooking, then divide among 4 large deep bowls.
9. Pile shredded cabbage, bean sprouts, and thin red onion over the noodles. Arrange the beef shank slices, pork, and sausage on top, then ladle 2 to 2 1/2 cups of very hot broth over each bowl. Finish each with a spoonful of the remaining satay oil, a shower of scallions and cilantro, and Thai basil, lime wedges, and sliced chiles on the side.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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