Bo Kho – Vietnamese Beef Stew

After traveling to Las Vegas for work and making a pit stop in Phoenix, I was immediately greeted back to the PNW with *snow* on the ground?? Small hail? Regardless, it was white and cold. I miss the sun and warmth so I wanted to make something warm and cozy. I saw it on a menu at a Vietnamese restaurant recently and suddenly had a craving. Bo kho is a Vietnamese-style beef stew that can be eaten with rice, noodles, or bread. It’s rich, warm, and super comforting!

Ingredients

Beef – It is a beef stew, so I would recommend using beef, but swap ingredients to your heart’s desire! The chuck roast here gives the broth a really beefy flavor, but you can use other stew meat or beef shank too.

Ketchup – Weird right? It gives the broth a reddish tint, a slight tomato flavor, and some sweetness.

Bo Kho – Vietnamese Beef Stew

Print Recipe
Lemongrass and anise beefy stew with onions and carrots.
Course Main Course, Soup
Cuisine Asian
Keyword beef, bo kho, soup, stew, vietnamese

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup olive oil 2 tbsp + 2 tbsp
  • 3 lbs chuck roast cut into 2" cubes
  • 1/2 onion sliced
  • 6 cloves garlic whole
  • 2 tbsp lemongrass minced
  • thumb chunk ginger
  • 1 tbsp 5 spice
  • 1 cup ketchup
  • 1/4 cup fish sauce
  • 1 tbsp brown sugar
  • 8 cups water
  • 2 cups carrots chopped

Instructions

  • In a heavy pot, add 2 tbsp of olive oil to heat.
  • When oil shimmers, add half of the chuck roast, searing on all sides. Do not crowd the pot.
  • Sprinkle salt and pepper over each piece as it sears.
  • After all sides are seared, remove from pot.
  • Add another 2 tbsp of olive oil and sear remaining beef and adding salt and pepper.
  • Remove all beef from the pot.
  • In the pot, add onions, garlic, lemongrass, ginger, and 5 spice to toast and brown.
  • After onions start to soften, add ketchup and fish sauce. Mix together.
  • When mixture starts to boil, return meat to pot and add brown sugar and water.
  • Mix and simmer on low for 2 hours, skimming any foam as necessary.
  • For the last 15 minutes, add chopped carrots.
  • Serve with rice, noodles, or bread!

After this, have some Pumpkin Walnut Cake with Chocolate Hazelnut Spread or Apple Crumb Pie.