The Bo’ Kho experiment!

For those who did not catch my response to the comments I received on my Vietnamese food post a while back, let me reiterate that I DID NOT cook the beef stew shown in that picture 😛

Instead I had tarpowed the stew for dinner that day.

However, today I decided to try making my own Vietnamese Beef Stew (Bo’ Kho). Hehehe…itchy hands make for a busy kitchen, eh?  I googled for the recipe, and not surprisingly, I found so many different variations of the stew. So instead of just following one recipe to the tee, I mixed and matched several and came up with my own.

Here’s my recipe for Vietnamese Beef Stew:

Ingredients
For the marinade:

• Chunks of beef (I chose the one that stated “good for stews”), about 1lb
• 1 stalk lemongrass, finely chopped
• A few slices of fresh ginger
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp five-spice powder
• 1 or 2 star anise
• 3 tbsp fish sauce (this is a must for Vietnamese cuisine)
• dash of salt
• some freshly ground black peppercorn

N.B. I did not measure everything using measuring tools, most of the time I just did the agak-agak trick.

For the stew:

• Vegetable oil for sautéeing
• 1 bombay onion, sliced (oh shucks… I just realized I left out the garlic!)
• 1 small can tomato purée
• 3 cups water
• 1-2 carrots, cut into chunks

For the garnishing:

• Fresh coriander

How I experimented:

• Marinade the stuff under the marinade section for at least 30 minutes.  I kinda lost track of time, but anyhoo…
• Then heat up the vegetable oil in a pot or deep saucepan and sautée the beef chunks for just a little while.  Remove and place back into the marinade bowl.  Set aside.
• Sautée the bombay onions for a few minutes till fragrant, then add the tomato purée.  Add some water to prevent it from becoming too thick.
• Simmer for about 5 minutes covered.
• Pour the beef chunks and everything else in the marinade into the pot, and add the 3 cups of water.  Bring mixture to a boil, add the carrots and simmer on low for about an hour and a half.  I suppose it would be easier had I used a slow cooker, but I do not have one with me here in US, so I had to periodically check on the pot to avoid it from drying up.
• Dish out into a bowl, garnish with some coriander and serve with hot steamed rice!  Oh…don’t forget to take a picture first! *wink*

I can’t wait to see what my hubby and my boy thinks of my lil experiment! 🙂