30-Minute Hu Tieu Kho (Dry Pork and Seafood Noodle Soup)

Hu Tieu Kho is one of the Vietnamese community’s best kept secrets. This noodle dish’s popularity pales in comparison to pho, but I promise you it’s just as tasty and takes less time to make with a cook time of only 30 minutes. In this blog post, learn all the ins and outs of how to make this dish at home. Learn about all the toppings you can include and how to adjust the ingredients, so it is just right for you.

There’s a restaurant in LA called Kim Kee Noodle House that my dad loves going to. Their specialty is Hu Tieu, a noodle dish popular in Saigon. I personally love this dish because its a very different flavor than other popular Vietnamese noodle dishes like pho and bun rieu. The dish is also very versatile with a ton of different toppings, noodles, and preparations you can choose from. This recipe in particular is for the dry preparation of this dish which is called Hu Tieu Kho.

Growing up with Hu Tieu Kho

Hu Tieu is a dish that is popular among the Vietnamese community. When I was a kid, I knew someone grew up Vietnamese if they ordered their Hu Tieu in the Kho preparation. This dish is served so many different ways with both traditional and modern ingredients used. Every family has their own version of this dish, so no two dishes will ever be the same.

As mentioned, there are a lot of variations of this dish. This dish has 2 preparations: nuoc (with soup) or kho (no broth). Personally, I love the soup version because I find it really comforting especially when I’m sick. The broth is light, clear and full of flavor. But from time to time especially during the summer, I like to have the no broth version of this dish which is called Hu Tieu Kho.

The “kho” version of this dish includes all the ingredients in the broth version but without the broth. Instead, there is a thick, savory sauce at the bottom that gets mixed in with the rest of the ingredients. It is also traditionally served with a side of the Hu Tieu broth.

How I developed my Hu Tieu Kho recipe

This recipe was pretty easy to develop with only 2 tests needed. The inspiration for this recipe is Allison Roman’s caramelized shallot pasta but with a Vietnamese twist. I used the classic Vietnamese combination of oyster sauce, soy sauce, and brown sugar as the base of the sauce. I then added some tomato paste to add a bit of sweetness and umami flavor and chicken broth to add a bit of liquid to the sauce. Traditionally, the broth used for Hu Tieu Nuoc (or the broth version) is used in the sauce, but I wanted to keep things simple with this recipe.

After the first test, I tasted the sauce and felt like there was some sort of fishiness/umami flavor missing, so I added some fish sauce to the sauce. I don’t think using fish sauce is that traditional to the recipe, but I loved the result so I’m sticking with that decision!

Key Ingredients, Substitutions & Adjustments

Below are the ingredients I used, but know that you can use whichever toppings you want. You can leave toppings out or add more of your favorite toppings. Experiment and find the combination that best suits your tastes.

Hu Tieu

• Egg noodles – You can use almost any noodle you want. I chose thin egg noodles because they’re my favorite. Traditional ones are egg noodles and rice noodles. At hu tieu restaurants, they will often give you a choice between thin egg noodles, wide and flat egg noodles, thin rice noodles, and wide and flat rice noodles.
• Toppings – Shrimp, char siu, squid, fish balls, and quail eggs. These are my favorite toppings, so I used these, but you can use any combination of these ingredients. Other toppings you can include are crab meat, boiled pork, boiled chicken, tofu, and even animal innards like chicken liver or chicken hearts. I’ve had Hu Tieu with animal innards, and it’s so good.
• Green onions – This adds some freshness to the dish. A substitute that is often used is Chinese chives which are flat and have a different flavor. Another green you can add is cilantro.
• Fried shallots – Another traditional ingredient that adds texture to the dish but also optional if you can’t find it. You either buy it at the store (Asian grocery stores or on Amazon) or use my fried shallot recipe to make your own. Most of the time, I buy them from the store to save time.
• Bean sprouts – Also optional and you can leave it out if you can’t find them.

Sauce

• Shallot and garlic – Shallots can be substituted with sweet yellow onion.
• Fish sauce – If you don’t like fish sauce or can’t find it, you can leave it out.
• Soy sauce – Some variations of this sauce require dark soy sauce which adds more color to the sauce. For a gluten free alternative, use tamari.
• Oyster sauce – If you can’t find oyster sauce, I would just use more soy sauce.
• Tomato paste – I love how tomato paste adds sweetness and umami flavor to the sauce. You can substitute with tomato sauce.
• Light brown sugar – White granulated sugar can be substituted for light brown sugar.
• Chicken broth – Traditionally, the broth used in the sauce is the Hu Tieu broth, so if you have that, definitely use that instead. But I chose to use store-bought chicken broth because it’s what I had available. A good alternative is vegetable, pork broth, or water.
• Corn starch and water – Corn starch can be substituted with tapioca starch.

Tips on how to make the best hu tieu kho

Prep everything before cooking

Making the sauce goes really fast, and ingredients like soy sauce burn quickly, so it’s important to prep those ingredients ahead of time. That means cut all the ingredients and measure out all the sauces before you start cooking.

How to adjust the flavor and consistency of the sauce

The sauce can be made however you like. You can leave out an ingredient you don’t like or you can add a different one you do like. I would just make sure you for sure include soy sauce, shallots, garlic, sugar, and oyster sauce as the base. Then play around with different ingredients to get it to the flavor you want.

You can also adjust the consistency of the sauce by adding more broth or water to make it looser or reducing the liquid to make it thicker.

How do you eat Hu Tieu Kho?

Hu Tieu Kho is typically served with all the components of the dish on top of the sauce, so as soon as you get the dish, you need to mix everything together. Make sure everything is coated in the sauce. The dish is also typically served with a side of broth which you can enjoy as you’re eating the dish.

You can also change the flavor of the dish by adding things like red vinegar, pickled chiles, and chili oil. My dad loves adding pickled chiles to his Hu Tieu.

How do you store and reheat Hu Tieu Kho?

The components of hu tieu kho should be stored in separate containers in the fridge. Once you’re ready to eat, combine everything in a bowl and microwave. Squeeze lime juice over the top and enjoy! The ingredients should stay fresh in the fridge for up to 3 days. Fresh vegetables can least up to a week.

Did you make this dish?

If you made this dish, I would love to see!

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