Thursday, November 6, 2025

Bo Kho - Vietnamese Beef Stew


 Bo Kho or Vietnamese Beef Stew is always on top of the list for fall weather foods! I love using fatty beef shank and a lot of tendons, if you haven’t had Bo Kho with tendons you are missing out on all that collagen! You can enjoy it with crusty warm bread, rice, or noodles.


You can use different beef cut like flank or chuck roast. Your beef and tendon will continue to cook on residual heat after you turn off the stove, so avoid overcooking! Simmering with the lid slightly on helps retain liquid and it will create steam to cook the meat and tendon faster vs. without lid on.

Short Video Recipe


Ingredients:

4 lbs of beef shank cut into 2 in cubes
2 lbs of tendons cut similar size
2 yellow onion diced
1 large knob of ginger smashed
5-6 lemongrass cut in 1/2 smashed
2 lbs of baby carrots
salt
3-4 rock or palm sugar
mushroom seasoning
3 tbl tomato paste
5-6 star anise
3 sticks of cinnamon toasted

Beef and Tendon marinade:

1/3 cup of fish sauce
1/3 cup liquid seasoning or soy sauce
2 tbl mushroom seasoning
2 tbl of paprika
1/2 tbl onion powder
2 shallots thinly sliced
3 tbl minced lemon grass
3 tbl minced garlic
1/2 tbl black pepper

1. Soak your meat in water and salt for an hour. Tendons will need to be parboil for about 30 mins because it takes longer to get tender. Then rinse both with cold water and cut into 1.5-2in chunks.
2. Combine ingredients to marinate the beef and tendons, overnight if possible.
3. Next day sear the beef in oil with some tomato paste. I recommend to sear the beef in 2 lb batches. Caramelized diced onions and ginger in oil.



4. Add the seared beef, tendons, ginger, and caramelized onions to a big pot and add enough water to cover the meat and a little extra. Let pot come to a boil and and remove scum whenever necessary.
5. Add lemongrass, toasted spices, 2 tbl salt, 3-4 small rock sugar, 3 tbl mushroom seasoning.
9. Turn down the heat to low-med and pop the lid on slightly. Let the pot simmer for around 1 hour.
10. Add the carrots. Adjust taste with additional sugar and fish sauce to your liking. Turn off the heat and pop on the lid and pot will continue to cook on residual heat.

Thursday, October 30, 2025

Vietnamese Shrimp Spring Rolls w/ Peanut Sauce - Goi Cuon Tom voi Sot Dau Phong

 



My favorite food to make for lunch nowadays are spring rolls or goi cuon!  There are so many different type of spring rolls and this one is definitely the easiest!  In general, to make spring rolls you will need a protein, lettuce, herbs, cooked vermicelli noodle, and the sauce.  It's very customizable but I usually just use what I have available.  It's a great way to get rid of some lettuce or cucumber. 

I will prep most of the components the night before such as cooking the vermicelli noodles, and washing the veggies.   The next day I just have to make the sauce and cook the shrimp.  It really helps me with time especially if i'm working from home but still want some delicious Vietnamese food.  

If you follow me on Instagram, you already know how much I love spring rolls and share quite a varitety of spring roll recipes.  I'm hoping to get more of my spring rolls recipe added to the blog, will work on it for 2026!    

Here is the link to a short form video for the visual learner and tips for rolling spring rolls below.  This is specifically for Shrimp Spring Rolls but these tips will certainly help with other type of spring rolls too. 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHt6LKQPMWi/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==


Tips for rolling:


Rehydrate your rice paper with cold water. Just one quick dip is all you need.

Add all the components onto your rice paper right away. By the time you are done, you can start rolling even if your rice paper is not 100 soft yet.

Cut your shrimp in half and add to areas the top 3/4 of your rice paper.

Avoid overfilling your roll with too much ingredients. If you are using firmer lettuce, crush it a bit before rolling.

Tuck your ingredients as you are rolling to ensure a tight roll.

Spring Roll components:



Cooked vermicelli noodle 

Rice paper

Green leaf lettuce

Sliced cucumber

mint leaves, chives, basil, cilantro (any of these will work)

Peanut Sauce Recipe:




1/3 cup of peanut butter
1/4 cup of hoisin sauce
1-5-2 cups of water ( less water more thicker, I use around 1.75 cups)
2 tbl minced garlic
2 tbl minced shallot
3 tbl cooking oil
1/2 tbl of vinegar or lime juice
Pickled carrots and daikon (optional)
Sambal chili sauce

Saute garlic and shallot in oil until fragrance and turn into a golden color. Add peanut butter, hoisin sauce, and water and mix well. Cook sauce on low-medium heat until it’s smooth and thicken. Mix in vinegar or lime juice. You can add more hot water to thin it out to your liking. You can also use less water if you prefer a thicker sauce.


Transfer to serving bowl. Garnish with crushed peanuts. Add whatever chili sauce you prefer.