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bun bo hue
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Bun Bo Hue

A culinary tour-de-force, this spicy, tangy, bowl of slurpy noodle deliciousness was touted by chef and journalist Anthony Bourdain as “the greatest soup in the world.”
Prep Time1 hour 30 minutes
Cook Time4 hours 30 minutes
Servings: 8 people

Equipment

  • 1 Large stockpot (minimum 12 quarts) for broth
  • 1 Small pan for sate sauce
  • 1 Large pot for noodles
  • 1 Fine mesh skimmer

Ingredients

Broth (Base)

  • 2 lb beef shank
  • 6 lb beef bones - mix of neck leg, neck, knuckle, and/or oxtail
  • 2 lb front pork trotters quartered crosswise by the butcher
  • Water
  • 8 stalks lemongrass crushed and halved crosswise
  • 1 onion halved
  • ⅓ pineapple
  • 2 tbsp rock sugar substitute granulated sugar

Broth (Finishing - for Step 8)

  • 1 lb pork blood tofu diced into 1 inch cubes
  • 2 tbsp fish sauce
  • 3 tbsp fermented shrimp paste
  • ¼ cup sate sauce from sate sauce recipe
  • Reserved crushed lemongrass husks from sate sauce prep

Sate Sauce

  • ½ cup neutral cooking oil e.g. canola, vegetable, peanut
  • 4 tbsp annatto seeds
  • 3 tbsp dried shrimp finely minced
  • 2 stalks lemongrass hard exterior layers removed and crushed for broth, interior finely minced for sate sauce
  • 3 cloves garlic finely minced
  • 3 shallots finely minced
  • 2-4 tbsp dried pepper flakes
  • ½ tbsp sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp fish sauce

Noodles and accompaniments

  • 1.5 lb dry rice noodles cylindrical and round - around 2-3mm in diameter, roughly the size of thick spaghetti
  • 1 lb store bought Hue pork sausage chả Huế, sliced thinly
  • 2 banana flowers shredded
  • 1 lb bean sprouts
  • 1 bunch coriander chopped
  • 1 bunch basil large stems removed
  • 1 bunch mint large stems removed

Instructions

PART 1: START BROTH

  • Parboil meats. Add 2lb beef shank, 6lb beef bones (mix of neck, leg, knuckle, and/or oxtail), and 2lb pork front rotters (quartered crosswise) to stockpot and fill with just enough water to cover everything. Bring to a boil over high heat and boil for 10 minutes. Jostle meat occasionally to help dislodge impurities. Remove from heat and discard water. Rinse meat and stockpot to remove any visible impurities.
  • Boil stock. Place meat and bones back into cleaned stockpot and add enough water to just cover everything. Add 2 tbsp rock sugar and ⅓ a pineapple. Bring everything to a boil, then reduce to simmer until the trotters are tender and beef shank is fully cooked - around 1 to 1.5 hours. For first 10 minutes of simmer, skim top of soup with fine mesh skimmer to catch remaining impurities, and discard.
  • Make annatto oil. While the stock simmers, make annatto oil. On medium heat, heat ½ cup oil in small pan. Add 4 tbsp annatto seeds and saute for 2 minutes or until oil is dark red. Discard annatto seeds and spoon all but 1 tbsp of annatto oil into a bowl for the sate sauce.
  • Toast aromatics. Heat pan with remaining annotto oil on medium heat, add 8 stalks crushed and halved lemongrass and 1 halved yellow onion. Stir occasionally. Toast until fragrant and onion is slightly browned, around 3 minutes. Add toasted lemongrass and onion to stock, and continue simmering stock per Step 2.
  • Remove trotters and shank. When trotters and shank are fully cooked (trotters should be tender but not fall-off-the-bones; shank should run clear juices when pierced), remove both from broth, and submerge in cold water bath to preserve the whiteness and bouncy texture. When shank is completely cooled, slice thinly across the grain, and set aside for final soup assembly. Let broth simmer for at least 3 more hours. If simmering more than 3 hours and using oxtail as part (not all) of the bones, remove oxtail only at hour 3 to not overcook it.

PART 2: MAKE SATE SAUCE 

  • Make sate sauce. Peel the outer layers off 2 lemongrass stalks, crush with the back of a knife, and set aside for later. Heat reserved annatto oil in small pan over medium heat. Add minced: 2 inner stalks of lemongrass, 3 tbsp dried shrimp, 3 cloves garlic, and 3 shallots. Add 2-4 tbsp pepper flakes. Saute for 3 minutes, or until garlic is light gold and mixture is very fragrant. Add ½ tbsp sugar, 1 tsp salt, and 2 tbsp fish sauce. Saute for another 3 minutes, or until the sauce thickens. Remove from heat.

PART 3: FINISH AND SERVE

  • Cook noodles. 30 minutes before the broth is done, cook 1.5 lb dry rice noodles according to package instructions, then strain and transfer to cold water bath. Drain when noodles are completely cool.
  • Finish broth. Add 1 lb diced blood tofu, 2 tbsp fish sauce, reserved crushed outer lemongrass layers, ¼ cup of sate sauce, and 3 tbsp shrimp paste. (For clearer broth, mix shrimp paste with 1 cup hot water. Let sit for 10 minutes for dregs to settle to the bottom. Ladle the clear liquid from the top, and add only the clear liquid to the broth.) Simmer for 5 minutes, then turn off heat.
  • Assemble noodle bowls. Drain noodles and divide among 8 large serving bowls (around 2 cups of cooked noodles per bowl). Add 3-5 slices each of beef shank and Hue sausage, 1 pork trotter, and 2-3 pieces of cooked blood tofu. Ladle broth to cover everything.
  • Garnish and serve! Serve noodles with extra sate sauce on the side, and a plate of 1 bunch each of cilantro (chopped) and basil and mint (tough stems discarded), 1 lb bean sprouts, and 2 shredded banana flowers. Sip, slurp, and say “ahhh!”