Bo Kho (Vietnamese Braised Beef Stew) Recipe (2024)

This was very delicious. Thank you David for the recipe. My feedback would be: 1) Instead of mincing the lemongrass, just cut stalks into long pieces, smash with the back of a knife. 2) Place the lemongrass, star anise, cinnamon stick, and split pepper in a piece of tied cheesecloth, making it simple to extract when finished. 3) Forget rice, potatoes, etc. and go with the suggested crusty baguette!

I made this last night in my Instant Pot. I added another serrano (unnecessary), just two star anise pods, used lemongrass paste from a tube, and the whole can of tomatoes. The store was out of shallots, so I used red onion as suggested (faster and cheaper). Cooked it on the “Meat/Stew” setting (45 minutes, 15-minute release). Following a reader’s suggestion, I added bok choy at the end (will use more next time and maybe bamboo shoots and/or water chestnuts and/or Asian mushrooms?). Delicious!

I thought the dish needed a bit more punch and a bit more liquid for all the beef and carrots, so I reduced eight cups of beef stock to six (in lieu of the four cups of water). I also added about an eighth-cup of soy sauce. It was freakin' delicious!Will absolute save this one for another go-'round.

Overall very tasty. I didn't use any star anise as a small amount is overpowering for me. Even with leaving that out, the amount of anise in the Chinese 5-spice powder was still very dominant and the spices were yelling a bit loud instead of singing harmoniously with the other ingredients. I would likely cut that spice in half next time. I kind of wish this had more vegetable presence outside of the carrots and onions. I may experiment with adding in something green like bok choy at the end.

Growing up we used to serve this with a small bowl of lime juice, lots of pepper, and a pinch of salt to dip the beef in for some brightness. Think individual soy sauce bowls for sushi. Replacing the water with beef stock is a must for me too so that the baguette can soak up extra goodness.

This dish was absolutely delicious. I used generous amounts of freshly grated ginger and extra chopped garlic cloves. The beef came out very tender and delicious. I served this with french bread and a glass of red wine. Fabulous!

I used lemongrass paste that comes in a tube. Worked for me.

I added a tablespoon of rice vinegar and soy sauce to the marinade and three tablespoons of tomato paste to the simmer, substituted beef broth in for water, kept lemon grass in a tea infuser throughout cooking so it could be easily removed (which was helpful because it never got soft enough to chew, even after ~2 hours of low simmer), and let the carrots cook for about 30 mins total. More 5-spice to taste. Broth was thick and flavorful! Looking forward to leftovers. Will make again!

I made this over the weekend, followed the recipe exactly. Prepping all the ingredients took me a bit of time. The marinade is really more like a rub for the beef. It smelled great while cooking and tasted wonderful. The suggested garnishes are a must, as they offer a cool contrast to the warm spices the beef and carrots have been cooking in. Next time I'll make rice to soak up the delicious broth/sauce. We loved the different flavor of this beef stew. Another great David Tanis recipe!

I made this in an Instant Pot, high pressure for 30 min to cut down cooking time. It came out perfect. For the marinade, added a little oil to help it coat the meat. Also experimented with adding garam masala to the marinade, since related to the 5-spice mix, and ground Sichuan pepper with the carrots, resulting in even more umami. Consider adding rice noodles to make pho bo kho. Ho Ho!

I made this last night and was extremely happy with the result. Add the white turnips, cut up into 1/4" pieces. 2 Thai chilis really gave it a kick. I served it over rice noodles and I thought I was in Viet Nam. Never been there though. Warning - you don't have to change anything. I am fortunate to have an H mart 5 minutes from my house in Yonkers, so finding anything is a breeze. Red Boat fish sauce is also available at Fairway and Whole Foods.

I like the flavors, much lighter than traditional French soups. The proportions seem a bit off - there's no way that much marinade covers 3lbs of beef. I doubled it and was still a little short. I really don't think 1 cup of tomato is enough - maybe add tomato paste? Broth was a little weak, will probably try chicken stock instead or just braise in oven for much longer and let it concentrate.

This recipe is a keeper. Agree with other cooks here that the fresh herbs are a must at the end. Next time, I might try substituting beef stock for the water for even more flavor.

Tanis doesnt say this is a soup, but a stew, and dont see anywhere that Marinade should cover beef, but is massaged into the meat. Anyway, have not made this, but sounds so delicious.

We loved this recipe. I will make it again. The market did not have lemongrass so I substituted lemon rind. I also added potatoes. Delicious.

This was delicious. As suggested by some, I used Beef broth instead of water and definitely deepened the flavor. Also as some said, the carrots take longer than 15 mins to cook. I cut the thicker ends in half after reading comments and it still was over 15 minutes so you'll have to accomodate for that. Only had 1 pound of carrots so added the balance in turnips and they were perfect in the stew. Served with baguette & the scallions, mint, cilantro & thai basil are a must!

and p.s. Agree that you have to have the scallions, mint, cilantro & Thai basil topping it!

This was fabulous! Used beef broth as some suggested which I think deepened the flavor. Since I only had a pound of carrots, I added turnips too. After reading some comments about the carrots taking a lot longer to cook, I cut the wider ends in half to help along the cooking which worked. Only used the heart of the lemongrass chopped, so it wasn't woody in the dish. Since coming off a rice-based meal recently, served with Baguette. Very yummy.

Used beef broth, cooked slightly longer than recommended to reduce broth. Carrots took about 30-45 min. Only used one Serrano and it was spicy enough. Used 3 crushed lemongrass stalks, would probably do more next time.

This was very yummy! I served with baguette, but I think it also would’ve been great with some potatoes added into the liquid with the carrot, particularly because the liquid was quite brothy. The fresh herbs on top were an absolute must!

Phenomenal dish. I agree with below comments that it's probably best to smash the lemongrass and put it in cheesecloth with the whole spices rather than slice and sauté -- it ends up firm and inedible doing the latter. Also doubled the amount of chili peppers for an extra kick.

Used 8 cups of water and reduced down uncovered

This was fantastic! I forgot to buy serranos so I added some chilli crisp I had in the fridge. Also some sweet potatoes was a good add. Like a combination of old fashioned beef stew and pho. I thought we would have leftovers, but nope! A keeper.

Used venison stew meat and served with baguette. Instant hit. Nice alternative to traditional stews.

Easily 2 and a half hours recipe. But worth every minute. Delicious!

A thousand times, YES! Served it with rice noodles. Only major change was I used beef stock instead of water. Fabulous dish.

Delicious! Family all raved. Will add this to the rotation! I forgot the lemongrass but a little squeeze of lemon at the end brightened it just enough. Added chopped asian greens at the end as well.

This was just delicious - super high payoff dish. Used 4C homemade chicken stock instead of water, covered and cooked at a bare simmer for ~4 hours. Added carrots and potatoes for the last 30 mins, the carrots lend an intriguing sweetness. Served each bowl with a huge squeeze of lime. Grating 4 tbsp ginger was the highest-effort part of the prep, will blend ginger to make a paste next time.

Sounds terrific, The only question i have is the carrot. Is that necessary?

I took another user’s suggestion of using some of the mussel broth instead of water. The soup turned out to be a touch too salty (anchovies! soy! duh!). Next time I will use water only.