The Best Bun Bo Hue (Spicy Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup)

A bowl of bun bo hue served with mint, bean sprouts, lime, and shrimp paste.

5 from 15 ratings

The Best Bun Bo Hue (Spicy Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup)

The spicy cousin of traditional beef pho. This noodle soup has a spicy beef broth with thick noodles, thinly sliced beef, and fresh vegetables.

Prep Time30

Cook Time3 15

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Vietnamese

Keyword: bun bo hue, bun bo hue recipe, Vietnamese beef noodle soup

Servings: people

Calories: 1021kcal

Author: Becca Du

Ingredients

Broth

2 lb beef shank with bone, see note 1
1 lb beef chuck see note 1
2 lb pork hocks cut into chunks
3 cloves garlic
3 tbsp Bun Bo Hue powder see note 2
1 tbsp shrimp paste
1 daikon cut into chunks, see note 3
1 yellow onion see note 4
2 stalks lemongrass cut into 2 inch pieces
2 tsp salt
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1 can chicken broth 14.5 oz

Spicy Sate Chili

2 tsp annatto seeds
¼ cup vegetable oil
2 tsp chili flakes
1 shallot minced
1 stalk lemongrass minced
2 cloves garlic minced
¼ tsp salt

Noodle Bowl

1 package thick rice noodles 1 pound
1 roll cha lua optional, thinly sliced
¼ cup cilantro minced
2 stalks green onions thinly sliced
1 cup bean sprouts
2 limes
mint to taste

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Clean the meat. Put 2 lbs of pork hocks, 2 lbs of beef shank, and 1 lb of beef chuck into a big soup pan and add water until it just covers the meat. Bring it to a boil. Once the water boils, remove it from the heat and pour out the water. Take out all the meat and set aside.
Add 3 cloves of garlic, 3 tbsp bun bo hue powder, 1 tbsp of shrimp paste and 1 tablespoon of oil to a soup pan. Cook for 30 seconds until fragrant. (You can use the same one you used to parboil the meat to save time.) Add in the beef shank and beef chuck, and cook until the beef is brown on all sides.
Add in water until it just covers the meat. I added 3 quarts or 12 cups of water. Bring to a boil, and scoop away any impurities that you see.
Lower the heat, and add the pork hocks back to the pot. Also, add 1 onion, 1 daikon, and 2 stalks of lemongrass. Simmer for 2-3 hours.
After 2 hours, check that the meat is cooked through. Leave them in the broth if they need to be cooked more. Once cooked through, take out the meat. Slice the beef and set aside. The beef is cooked through once it's tender and falls off the bone.
Add 2 tsp of salt, 2 tbsp of fish sauce, 1 tbsp of sugar, and 1 can of chicken broth to the soup. Simmer the soup for another 15 minutes.
While the soup is simmering, make the sate chili. Combine 1/4 cup of vegetable oil and 2 tsp of annatto seeds in a small sauce pan. Cook for 1-2 minutes until the oil turns red. Discard the seeds and add the rest of the ingredients for the sate chili to the pan. Cook for 1-2 more minutes and remove from the heat.
After 15 minutes of simmering, add 1-2 tbsp of the sate chili to the broth and stir. Alternatively, serve it on the side and allow guests to add it to their bowl.
Taste the soup and see if it has enough flavor. If not, add more fish sauce until it tastes just right. Turn off the heat.
Now it's time to assemble your bowls of soup! Grab a handful of cooked noodles and put them in a bowl. Top it with some of the beef slices, a piece of the pork hock, cilantro, green onions, bean sprouts, cha lua, and a small teaspoon of shrimp paste (optional). Ladle some soup over these yummy ingredients and serve.

Video

Notes

Beef substitutes. Both shank and chuck can be substituted with brisket. Beef chuck can be substituted with beef shank. Make sure some bone is included for a richer broth.
Bun Bo Hue powder. See blog post for my homemade Bun Bo Hue powder recipe.
Daikon substitutes. Good substitutes for daikon are white turnip or Korean radish.
Yellow onion substitute. Yellow onion can be substituted with white onion.
All the components of this dish should be stored separately in airtight containers in the fridge. Once you are ready to eat, put it all together and serve. The broth, meat, and noodles can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days. The vegetables can be stored up to a week.
To reheat, first start by reheating the broth. You can either microwave it for 4-5 minutes or bring it to a boil in a pot. I then microwave the noodles for 1-2 minutes. Once both are hot, I combine them in a soup bowl and add the rest of the toppings. If you would like to microwave the broth and noodles in 1 bowl, I would first microwave the broth for 3-4 minutes, then add the noodles to the broth and microwave for an additional 2-3 minutes until hot. Optional - You can microwave the meat with the noodles.

Nutrition