Vietnamese Beef Stew (Bo' Kho)

I made this for my husband (whos Vietnamese) when he said he felt like Vietnamese but didnt want to go out. The first time I made it I didnt have any lemongrass, so I put in the zest of 1 lemon. Everyone, including our 3 and 4 year olds ate seconds. The left overs were better the next day and he was told by a co-worker that it tasted like the Bo Kho his mom made back in Vietnam. Will be making it for Christmas at his brothers.

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Good flavors but mine should have cooked longer. My meat wasn't tender.

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Great recipe! Coming from a Vietnamese family, my mom used to make this for dinner when I grew up. The only difference is that we use some hot chili peppers or some nuoc mam (a fishy spicy yummy sauce that I eat with almost eveything!). Served it with steamed jasmine rice and I was a kid again!!

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A clarification of my earlier "the gristlier the better" comment: it is the gristle, i.e. connective tissue, that gives this stew its body, without it the broth is too watery. Mind you, this type of stew is not meant to be as thick as European or American stews, where the liquid is expected to coat the back of a spoon. It should be thought of instead as a chunky soup with a very hearty broth. Another good garnish to add at the table is deep-fried shallots or deep-fried garlic (or both), both of which can be found in Asian markets.

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Made this once for my husband's coworkers and they have been requesting this dish ever since. It is so .....so... flavorful! Thanks so much for posting this. Oh! I double the fish sauce because I love fish sauce. It made it even tastier.

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This was good, just not quite as flavorful as I thought it would be.

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it was flavorful, but missing some depth. maybe it was because i didn't have lemongrass. i put my carrots in at the same time as the beef and cooked it. i also added a can of condensed beef broth to try to add that something. it was the perfect saltiness.

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Wonderful. Gratz Nolita! Made it exactly as listed the first time and it was fabulous, DH and I both loved it, the left overs where even better. I don't think I've ever eaten anything that suited carrots so well. The second time I cut the beef into very large pieces and threw the whole lot into the crock pot raw, turned it on and hi for an hour, then dropped the pot to low and went to work. When we got home the house smelled great, and we had this wonderful stew. The beef was overcooked, but this was my fault for cooking it all day in the crockpot. Didn't ruin the flavor a bit.

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My husband who's Vietnamese (and whose mom makes fantastic Vietnamese home cooking) raved about this after I made it. I browned the meat and onions, then threw them & all the other stuff into a slow cooker (out of sheer laziness), adding some red potatoes & Vietnamese curry powder since his mom usually adds those. Also since I didn't have tomatoes I just used a dollop of tomato paste. I cooked it about 2 1/2-3 hrs on high since the potatoes didn't soften as fast as I'd thought on the low heat, and then another hour on low. But I'm sure if you just left it all day on low it would be fine.

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I made this dish last night for the first time, and to *great* success. It's our favorite dish, one we order a lot, so I could tell by the aroma that the recipe was authentic. Cooked it for a couple of hours beyond the recommended time, and by then the meat was really falling apart.

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i have made this twice already. both times using a slow cooker cos i like the fact that i can dump everything into the pot and forget about it for the next few hours. The first time i made this, i added 3 cups water to the pot. I didnt sear the meat and as a result, I ended up with alot of sauce. I had to transfer all the contents to a wok and simmer until the sauce reduces. It was yummy the 1st time. The 2nd time i made this, i reduced the water to 1 cup only. On a whim, I boiled some spaghetti to go with the stew and it became a version of a beef noodle. Easy and quick. I did increase the fish sauce and brown sugar to compensate for a more watery stew. Thanks for sharing.....

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I tried this today and this is totally authentic. It's even better than my mother in laws!! I cooked mine from morning to night and the meat was oh so tender and the seasoning was all the way through. I got beef meat with tendons from some chinese butcher and it was so delicious. Can't wait for my husband to come home and try it. I didn't have brown sugar so used raw sugar. Would be great for a cold winter night.... mmmm

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My apologies, We tried this recipe that first night and were not too impressed, but the next day the stew was just wonderful, I think it needed the extra simmer time. I am adding another star and my thanks.

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I had prepared this dish for many of my vietnamese friends and they enjoyed it immensely. However, I had prepared the stew in a slow cooker which seems to make the beef a little more tender. I also added a chili pepper for a little spice. Potatoes added are also acceptable.

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This was alright....the flavors were a bit strong for our tastes. I guess we're so used to the "traditional" beef stew that it was hard for us to get past the flavors of the star anise and 5-spice powder. Like I said, my husband and kids are my biggest critics, so if they don't care for it, then there's no use keeping the recipe. We did prefer eating it with the french bread rather than the rice.

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My DH absolutely loved this and so did I. So much flavor and very easy to make.

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I made your stew tonight. My husband and I loved it. The smell was wondeful. Taste has a good balance between salt and sugar. Fish sauce gives extra nuance but does not smell fishy at all. I added little bit of corn starch to make sauce thicker. What a great and different way to use stew meat. Thank you very much for your posting.

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