SAVEUR’s Chief Content material Officer Kate Berry and her mom Kim Nguyen typically make this comforting and fragrant stew to rejoice the Lunar New Year and different festive events. The household emigrated to america in 1975 on the fall of Saigon, when Berry was a child. Now based mostly in Huntington Seashore, California and New York Metropolis, respectively, mom and daughter keep linked each to their heritage and to one another, via shared cultural experiences like this hearty braise.
Over time, Nguyen has tailored the recipe, which has lengthy been loved as a breakfast meals all through Vietnam, to her personal tastes and to the components out there to her in Orange County. Berry did the identical when she started making the dish in New York together with her personal daughter, Quinn. Whereas Nguyen favors super-meaty beef shanks, Berry opts for a mixture of quicker-cooking quick ribs and collagen-rich oxtail. Nguyen sweetens the stew with palm sugar whereas Berry finds that bizarre cane sugar makes an appropriate substitute. And whereas Berry acknowledges her mom’s spectacular knife expertise, she admits that, with regards to mincing the aromatics—a heady mixture of contemporary ginger, garlic, and lemongrass—the pace and comfort of a meals processor is healthier suited to her busy metropolis life.
Diversifications apart, the 2 ladies, each avid gardeners, by no means skimp on the normal accompaniments—a bountiful mixture of contemporary herbs, scallion, and lime. With just a few variations, the flavour of this particular dish, shared hundreds of miles aside, stays the identical.
Bò Kho (Vietnamese-Fashion Beef Stew with Lemongrass, Ginger, and Garlic)
For Lunar New Yr, Kate Berry and her Má make this festive foremost on reverse coasts.
Yield: serves 6-8
Time:
6 hours, 45 minutes
For the bò kho:
- ½ cups finely chopped ginger
- ¼ cups plus 2 Tbsp. fish sauce
- ¼ cups plus 1 Tbsp. sugar
- ¼ cups finely chopped garlic (about 10 cloves)
- 6 lemongrass stalks, 3 finely chopped (¼ cup), 3 minimize into 4-in. items and smashed
- 2 lb. oxtail, minimize into 3-in. items
- 2 lb. boneless quick ribs, minimize into 2-in. items
- ¼ cups vegetable oil
- 6 cups beef inventory
- ¼ cups plus 2 Tbsp. tomato paste
- 6 makrut lime leaves
- 5 medium shallots, coarsely chopped
- 4 star anise pods
- 3 lb. carrots, peeled and minimize into 1-by-3-in. items
- 1 medium candy onion, coarsely chopped
To serve:
- Freshly floor black pepper
- Vast phở noodles (elective)
- Thinly sliced purple onion
- Coarsely chopped scallions
- Cilantro sprigs
- Thai basil
- Lime wedges
- Crusty bread (elective)
Directions
- Make the bò kho: In a big bowl, mix the ginger, fish sauce, sugar, garlic, and chopped lemongrass and stir till the sugar has dissolved. Add the oxtail and quick ribs, flip to coat, then cowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 3–8 hours.
- Drain the meat, discarding the marinade, and switch to a paper-towel-lined plate. Use extra paper towels to pat the meat dry. To a big pot set over medium-high warmth, add the oil. When it’s shimmering and sizzling, add sufficient beef to fill the pot with out overcrowding and cook dinner, turning often, till browned throughout, 15–20 minutes. Utilizing a slotted spoon, switch to a plate, then repeat with the remaining beef.
- To the empty pot, add the browned beef, beef inventory, tomato paste, lime leaves, shallots, and star anise. Flip the warmth to excessive, and when the liquid boils, flip the warmth to low and cook dinner, partially coated, till the meat may be very tender, 2½ –3 hours.
- Add the carrots and onion, add water as wanted to maintain the greens submerged, then flip the warmth to medium-high; when the liquid boils, cowl and switch the warmth to medium-low. Prepare dinner till the greens are tender, 15–20 minutes.
- To serve, ladle the bò kho into giant bowls (over phở noodles if desired). High generously with black pepper and garnish with the purple onion, scallions, cilantro, Thai basil, and lime. Accompany with crusty baguette if desired.
