Viet Braised Beef – Bò kho

 

I would be very surprised if one does not simply like Viet food after having to try the authentic one. I would very much surprise. It is not just about emotional wellbeing – like the author of My Vietnamese Kitchen once has said, but also about the heartfelt effort our people put into each and every single dish – which indeed sometime can take up to 3, or even 8 hours – but does that even matter though when we cook for our loved ones.

INGREDIENTS:

• 0,5kg of stewing beef (brisket, blank, or shank)
• 1 large onion, pealed & chopped
• 1 large carrot, pealed & chopped
• 1 large potato, pealed & chopped
• 4-5 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 piece of ginger, crushed
• 3 large shallot, crushed
• 1 tspn of oyster sauce
• 2 tspn of flour
• 1 lemongrass stalk
• 1 can of coconut juice
• 1tsp of tomato sauce, 1 tspn of tomato puree
• 2tsp of curry powder (or mix curry, turmeric, chili, coriander, cumin seeds, cinnamon, cloves, bay leaves, allspice and salt together)

COOKING STEPS:

• Marinate the beef over-nite (or at least 3 hrs) with tomato sauce + garlic + shallot + curry powder + oyster sauce + salt
• Heat 1 tbsp of cooking oil in a large non-stick pan, quickly sautee the garlic+shallot+ginger until fragrant then add the beef, stir well before add in 2 tspn of soya sauce & 1 tspn of tomato puree.
• Cook until browned. Transfer to large pot, add in the coconut juice and the lemongrass.
• Bring to simmer 2½ hrs until the meat is very tender
• Thirty minutes before serving, add in chopped carrots, potato and onion.
• Serve with bread, or in my case – noodle. Perfect for a cold day !

Bon appétit

Erin M. ❤