Bún bò Huế is a subconscious Vietnamese gem that has however to "make information technology" in mainstream American cuisine. It's a rich and spicy soup with deep layers of flavor. This Central Vietnamese soup is paired with tender slices of beef and pork, so topped with lots of fresh herbs.

I consulted my favorite Vietnamese cook–Mom–on how to make bún bò Huế. And to notice out subleties that make BBH authentic. I promise you lot'll love this version!

1-bun-bo-hue

Non as pop as phở….nonetheless?

Phở has claimed some serious territory hither and has grown popular apace. According to data from Google, since 2004 compared to March 2021, phở has grown in popularity by 830%, which is an amazing gain.

Insufficiently, for the previous 12 months starting March 2021, bún bò Huế is much less popular at a measly i.ii% of the searches for phở. Only why isn't phở's as spicy and attractive cousin allowed to bring together the party?

Information technology has a lot of familiar and identifiable ingredients–a practiced footstep in getting people to consume something new. BBH has a few curveballs that could be belongings it back from quicker adoption: shrimp paste and pork blood.

America seems to non be ready for this as a mainstay yet, whereas pho's concept is hands recognizable and pitched as beef or craven noodle soup. BUT bún bò Huế is non something you should look over–definitely give information technology a shot and you may love it even more than phở!

Bún bò Huế history

The city of Huế was put on the map as Vietnam's capital in 1802 when the Nguyen Dynasty seized control of the state and ruled from this central city.

lemongrass, shallots, garlic and annatto seeds for bun bo hue

This metropolis has a reputation for having spicy foods–non something as common with other Vietnamese cuisine. My mom believes there'south no real reason for it other than trying to heave flavor when there weren't other options. Sounds kinda like what you hot sauce fiends out there practise yeah?

Huế also only happens to be the origin of many of my favorite dishes. This city is responsible for bánh nậm, bánh bột lọc, cơm hến (omg), and of course bún bò Huế. Lez get cookin!

There volition be blood (congealed and cubed)

block of congealed pork blood in a pot

An authentic component of BBH is cubes of congealed pork claret. You coagulate it by sitting fresh blood in a container, then boiling with salt to solidify it. It'south kinda dumbo, slightly chewy and holds its shape when bitten.

On a recent episode of Parts Unknown, Anthony Bourdain dishes on what he needs in a romantic partner: "I would definitely bring a engagement for [bun bo hue]. Because if she doesn't like this, at that place's no hope of a relationship. If she said, 'Oh, I don't know, there's blood and stuff in there,' that would be a relationship-ender to me. I'thousand not kidding."

If making BBH just for myself, I'd forfeit my chances with Bourdain and skip the pork blood. Shh!

The banana flowers

sliced banana flower, sitting in citrus water

Another interesting & traditional ingredient in this soup is sliced banana flower (or banana blossoms).

You can detect these in Vietnamese, Chinese, Thai and other Asian markets. I even found this at a local Farsi market! This is a bang-up addition to this dish but is by no means required. If yous can't find assistant bloom, move on. You tin can nevertheless make some amazing BBH without information technology.

Set up your bowl of lemon water, then remove all the petals. Discard all the petty fronds (the mini banana-like fellas). The lemon keeps the petals from browning and removes some of its bitter taste.

Unless it'due south a Huế-specific restaurant, shops don't bother serving this because information technology's pricey and troublesome to prepare. If you don't accept access to these blossoms, you lot can practice as the restaurants do and utilise red cabbage as a stand-in.

The saté / spicy chile condiment

BBH is a spicy soup, so surprise there's a chile condiment / paste that goes with this pot of soup! And it's incredibly easy to brand, it just has a lot of ingredients.

You literally but rehydrate the dried chiles, mince the fresh aromatics, so throw everything into a pan on medium and stir until it thickens up and intensifies.

It takes a long time but information technology'south worth information technology! You can brand more than the amount I list in the recipe carte du jour below, to store in the fridge for future BBH parties or to requite away.

2-bun-bo-hue

To answer some commonly asked questions…

Whats the departure betwixt bún bò Huế and phở?

Then many things! Lets start with the noodles: phở is actually named afterwards the flat noodles in this soup, while bún bò Huế uses round noodles.

The broth in phở is typically all beefiness, or all chicken, and served with cuts of meat from the same animal, while bún bò Huế typically uses both beefiness and pork in the same broth. Bún bò Huế broth packs more of a punch with the utilize of shrimp paste, pork bones, and republic of chile paste.

Phở is non lacking in flavor by any ways, as it can be incredibly rich and satisfying in its own way.

Is bún bò Huế Spicy?

Yep, traditionally, and typically. Notwithstanding, the bún bò Huế goop base we make below, I like to make it not spicy at all. In my family and friend groups at that place'southward always a spectrum of spicyness people tin handle.

If you go out the broth at 0 spice, and get out the spicy republic of chile paste on the side, each person can make it as spicy as they like.

Does bún bò Huế have pork?

Yes. It's kinda funny "bún bò Huế" ways Huế beefiness noodle soup, but it can have just as much or even more pork than it does beef.

In our recipe below, we utilize pork hocks, Huế fashion pork sausage, and congealed pork blood. Vegetarians beware.

What does bún bò Huế mean?

"Bún bò Huế" literally translates to Huế beef noodle soup.

Where does bún bò Huế come up from?

Huế is a city in central Vietnam from where this noodle soup originates.

How do yous consume bún bò Huế?

With chopsticks and soup spoon! Simply really, prepare a bowl with the soup and broth, add as little or as much meat as you'd similar, then top information technology off with the veggies listed below: mint, Thai basil, edible bean sprouts, and banana flower.

The veggies go far a smidge healthier, and helps cool downward the soup too.

The final touch on will exist how much spicy chile paste yous add to the soup, and a spritz of lime if you lot prefer.

bun bo Hue Pinterest image

bowl of bun bo hue

  • 2 lb (907.2 thou) beef shank
  • 2 lb (907.2 grand) oxtail
  • 2 lb (907.two g) pork hocks
  • 1 lb (453.6 yard) Huế style pork sausage chả Huế, which has garlic and whole peppercorns
  • one lb (453.6 chiliad) block of pork claret

Broth base of operations & Seasoning

  • water I used an eight quart pot, and added water to cover the meat.
  • 24 oz chicken broth
  • 12 stalks lemongrass leafy tops removed, roots smashed
  • 2 xanthous onions, large halved, to exist removed from the goop subsequently fully cooked.
  • 3 tbsp salt
  • 2 tbsp saccharide
  • 2 tbsp shrimp paste Lee Kum Kee brand
  • 3-4 tbsp fish sauce
  • 2 tsp MSG (monosodium glutamate) if not using oxtail, add together four teaspoons

Aromatics & Colour

  • three tbsp anatto seeds
  • iii tbsp neutral cooking oil
  • 2 tbsp shallot sliced
  • 2 tbsp garlic minced

Herbs & Veg

  • mint
  • basil
  • bean sprouts
  • birds centre chile or jalapeno
  • lime sliced

Banana Bloom

  • 1 banana bloom
  • two cups water
  • i lemon juiced

Noodles

  • fourteen oz (396.9 g) bundle dried rice noodle medium or large thickness

Saté (spicy chile condiment)

  • twenty g dried Thai republic of chile crushed
  • i/ii c neutral cooking oil
  • 80 yard shallot or white onion minced
  • forty g garlic minced
  • 30 one thousand lemongrass minced
  • 2 tbsp Korean republic of chile powder (gochugaru)
  • 1 tbsp fish sauce
  • 1 tbsp saccharide
  • two/3 tsp common salt
  • i/two tsp MSG (monosodium glutamate)

Broth

  • Make clean the meat: Add together all meat to a stock pot and enough h2o to submerge it, bring to a boil. Drain and rinse thoroughly under running water.

    raw meat for bun bo hue

  • Add the meat, broth, lemongrass and onions to the pot and fill with h2o almost to the skirt. Bring to a eddy then drop the heat to medium-high to maintain a depression boil. Add together the seasoning.

    boiled meat and cut onion on a tray

  • Let it simmer and periodically check the meats for doneness and remove them as they end cooking. The pork should be washed later about an hour, the beefiness can vary between 2-3 hours.

  • Subsequently all the meat has removed, let it cool, then piece it. Adapt seasoning and add h2o to the goop pot if necessary.

  • Make the aromatics & coloring then add it to the pot.

  • Boil noodles co-ordinate to bundle instructions.

  • Assemble your bowl, and serve with herbs and veg on a side platter.

    bowl of bun bo hue

Red Coloring & Aromatics

  • Sauté seeds in oil on medium heat until the seeds give up the bright ruddy colour, then remove the seeds.

    annatto seeds and oil for red coloring

  • 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 practise is just buy information technology already cooked and boil just to oestrus information technology upward. If you utilise the raw type like nosotros did for this recipe, cut into 1″ cubes and eddy for xxx-45 minutes

    block of congealed pork blood in a pot

Banana Flower

  • Set a bowl of about 2 cups of water, mixed with the juice of ane lemon.

  • Thinly slice the banana blossom and add to the water mixture to sit for virtually xxx minutes.

    sliced banana flower, sitting in citrus water

  • Avoid adding piffling fronds (that expect like mini bananas), removing them as you run into them. They taste bitter!

Saté (spicy chile condiment)

  • Counterbalance out the dried Thai chiles, and then soak in just enough warm water to embrace the chiles for 20 minutes. Drain the water.

  • Add all sate ingredients to a pan on medium heat and stir continuously to brownish, cook, and slightly reduce the chile paste, nigh 30-40 minutes. If at any bespeak it becomes too dry, y'all tin add together more than oil, up to 50% of the amount we started with. Sense of taste and reseason with sugar or salt equally desired. See photo for how the final product should look.

    sate chile condiment in a pan

  • Let cool and transfer to a sealed jar stored in the fridge . You can add ~2 tbsp of the final production to the soup pot for a heave in flavour and colour, or simply and let each person add to their bowl to make it as spicy as they'd like!

2/eleven/2021: Added recipe for sate (spicy republic of chile condiment)

Calories note: The bodily calories per bowl may be lower by 200-250kcal than listed, since the saté / chile condiment typically isn't fully used upwardly for a single pot of this soup.

Serving: 0 thousand | Calories: 1276.vii kcal | Carbohydrates: 61.37 1000 | Protein: 89.95 one thousand | Fatty: 73.one g | Saturated Fatty: 20.9 g | Trans Fatty: 0.2 g | Cholesterol: 330.02 mg | Sodium: 4939.39 mg | Potassium: 1181.93 mg | Fiber: 2.55 g | Sugar: vii.32 m | Vitamin A: 671.03 IU | Vitamin C: 18.37 mg | Calcium: 143.fourteen mg | Iron: 11.91 mg

Course: Dinner, Luncheon, Soup

Cuisine: Vietnamese

Keyword: claret, pork, rice noodles, soup, spicy

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