Author Archives: Renate Valencia

Bo Kho – Vietnamese beef stew

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Bo kho - Vietnamese beef stew. So good!

Bo kho – Vietnamese beef stew. So good!

One of my favorite Vietnamese dishes is thit bo kho, or beef stew.  You often see it on menus as ‘beef stew noodle soup,’ and it comes in a big bowl with rice or egg noodles.  In Southern Vietnam it’s eaten with French bread instead of noodles.  Doesn’t matter – it’s all good.

The recipe that follows is from my friend and cooking school mate, Phu Nguy, who translated it for me recently, and talked me through its nuances.  Currently a chef at a fancy Japanese place in San Francisco, he’s been a wonderful sushi resource, but this soup is pure heart.  When it comes down to it, we are the food we grew up with, and it’s clear that Phu has been down with thit bo kho for some time now.

The broth of this stew/soup is fragrant, red, rich and complex, and the big pieces of beef and potato translate to comfort food no matter where you’re from.  There is something a little different about it, though.

There is star anise here.  Even if you are not a big fan of its licorice-like flavor, try this stew anyway because it really works here.  There’s anise in Chinese-style BBQ duck, and you like that, don’t you?

There’s lots of prep, but resign yourself to it.  Turn on the radio and enjoy it.  Please use real, fresh ingredients, like actual lemongrass stalks, bulb garlic and fresh ginger.  Make sure your dried spices haven’t lived in your kitchen since 1990.  Asian cuisine relies on bright, fresh flavors, and your dishes will really shine if you make the extra effort.

Here are a couple of tips to help with the recipe:

1)  Chopping lemongrass is a bit of a pain, but you can do this in a small food processor if you’re in that much of a hurry.  Take off all the outer leaves until you are left with the tender part inside.  Cut the top half off and use the bottom half.
2)  The curry powder called for is basic curry powder – nothing fancy.
3)  Buy whole star anise.  It’s best to get this loose at places like Whole Foods so you can buy a small quantity at a time.
4)  A daikon is a huge white radish, and any Asian market will have them.  Check out the daikon in this photo:

daikon

5)  Do not upgrade the meat requirement.  You need a tough, flavorful cut that requires long, moist cooking.
6).  Use potatoes of the waxy variety that will hold their shape, i.e., red.
7).  Seriously consider the tendon option (see ** below).  If you like pork belly you should try it.  Tendon has the mouth-feel of fat but contains very little, and texture-wise is something like firm gelatin.  It picks up the flavors of what it’s cooked with, in this case the rich broth of the stew.
8).  When I want to super-enrich the broth and/or I have extra people to feed, I add more beef, but only 1-1/2 extra cups of water per extra pound of meat.

I hope you try this.  You won’t believe how good the broth is, so make sure you have extra baguettes on hand.  Be sure to check out the photos at the end of the post.

*   *   *   *   *   *

Vietnamese Beef Stew  –Bo kho
Serves 6

Ingredients
Beef chuck or bottom round – 2 lbs (cut into 2-inch cubes) */**
Canola or vegetable oil – 3 tablespoons
Fresh lemon grass – 2 stalks (discard the leaf; use the bottom half and finely chop)
Fresh red chili peppers – 2, seeded and minced
Brown sugar – 2 teaspoons
Fresh ginger root – 2 tablespoons, grated
Ground cinnamon – 2 teaspoons
Curry powder – 2 teaspoons
Freshly ground black pepper – to taste
Fish sauce – 3 tablespoons
White onion – 1, medium dice
Garlic – 4-6 cloves, minced
Tomato paste – 1/3 cup
Star anise – 4 whole
Salt – 2 teaspoons
Carrot – 2 medium, cut into medium-sized cubes
Red potatoes – 4 of average size, peeled, cut into medium cubes
Daikon (Japanese or Korean) – 1 peeled, and cut into medium cubes
Baguette  – 1 whole, warmed in oven for a few minutes before serving
Lemon wedges

Procedure
Marinate the beef in a mix of the lemon grass, chilies, sugar, ginger, cinnamon, curry powder, fish sauce and black pepper in a bowl.  Mix well and let stand for 45 mins. 

Beef process
In a heavy Dutch oven, heat the oil until quite hot.  Sauté the onion and garlic for a minute and do not allow to burn.  Add tomato paste and stir-fry for 1 ½ mins.  Add the beef and let it fry on all sides for a few minutes  — until it gets a little color.  Add the star anise, 1 teaspoon of the salt and 4 ¼ cups of water.  Bring to a boil and then lower the heat and allow to simmer for 1 hour and 45 mins.  Skim foam from the top occasionally.

Vegetable process
Add the carrot and cook for 10 mins.  Add potatoes and cook for 10 mins.  Finally, add the daikon and cook for 10 mins.  (In total, this stew simmers for 2 hours and 15 mins.)

Check the beef for tenderness.

Serve in deep bowls with bread (dip it into the stew) and with salt, pepper and lemon wedges on the side.

*For more flavor:  add extra beef.
**To make it authentically Vietnamese:  add beef tendon.  If you want to do this, cut tendon into pieces about 2-inches long and then boil in plain water for a good two hours before you make this soup.  Then add it with the beef.  If you boil the tendon until it is quite soft, then you can add it to the soup with the carrots.  Tendon is all connective tissue, and takes a long time to become soft.

Beef cubes in marinade for bo kho

Frying meat and seasonings for bo kho

Adding veggies to bo kho

Ground pork and tofu

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Pork with tofu - mabo tofu

Pork with tofu – mabo tofu

I’ve always loved mabo tofu, the Sichuan tofu and ground meat dish that’s both spicy and numbing in its true form, which contains both chili peppers and Sichuan peppercorns.

Many of my friends cannot tolerate the “mala” characterictic of Sichuan cooking – namely the numbing heat – so I adapted a version I can feed to almost everyone.  While it lacks Sichuan peppercorns and bean paste, it still has heat and complexity, and I use a higher ratio of ground meat than is normally used to contrast the soft texture of the tofu.

This recipe uses both chili garlic sauce and red pepper flakes in oil, both of which may be purchased in Asian markets.  The chili garlic sauce looks a little like thick red pasta sauce.  The red pepper flakes in oil will be deep red and the pepper flakes will be mixed with the oil but not ground to a paste.  This product has a fresher look and will have some texture, since it’s not cooked.  Often served on the side as a condiment, I like its brightness when added to this dish.  There are many types of chili in oil, so make sure you get one that is plain or has only peanuts added.  These items will be packed in jars and located in the condiment/sauces section of the market.

Finally, if you don’t have a wok, you can use some kind of heavy, slope-sided pan, but I can’t stress enough how valuable it would be for you to have one flat-bottomed, cast iron wok in your possession.  It won’t stick, needs no wok ring, stays put (it weighs a ton), and retains heat.  I included a photo of mine under the recipe.  In that wok is stir-fried pork chops and red peppers.  If you want the recipe, contact me.

Renate’s Mabo Tofu
Serves 4; serve with rice

2-1/2 tablespoons peanut or canola oil
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1-1/2 tablespoons finely chopped ginger
1 green onion, medium chop
1 red chili pepper, seeded, deveined and finely minced
1 pound ground pork
1 tablespoon chili garlic sauce
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes in oil
3 tablespoons dry sherry
1/4 cup soy sauce (real soy sauce, please)
1 pound soft tofu, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1-1/2 tablespoons cornstarch dissolved in 3 tablespoons water

1).  Heat oil in wok over medium flame until good and hot – ingredients should sizzle
2).  Add garlic and ginger; stir-fry for 30 seconds (if you don’t have wok tools, use a heat-proof spatula)
3).  Add green onion and chili pepper; stir-fry for 30 seconds
4).  Add ground pork and stir-fry until cooked but not overcooked
5).  Stir in chili garlic sauce and red pepper flakes in oil
6).  Stir in sherry and stir-fry mass for 15 seconds
7).  Stir in soy sauce
8).  Add tofu, carefully folding it in so cubes remain as intact as possible
9).  When mass is bubbling pour in cornstarch mixture and fold in gently until completely incorporated and sauce is slightly thickened
10).  Serve and enjoy!

One of my woks: cast iron/flat bottom

One of my woks: cast iron/flat bottom

Costco’s chocolate-covered caramel apple

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Costco's new chocolate-covered caramel apple

Costco’s new chocolate-covered caramel apple

I like plain sweets and have a fondness for soft caramel, so when I saw this choco-covered Granny Smith caramel apple at Costco last week I almost swooned.

There is no way I was not going to buy this thing at least once, in the hope it would be everything Mrs. Prindable’s could be if they made their apple products with higher-quality coatings:  pleasantly sweet and bitter from the chocolate, soft and creamy from the caramel, and crunchy and tart from the green apple.  When this combination is done right it’s the perfect grown-up caramel apple.

The bottom of Costco's chocolate-covered caramel apple

The bottom of Costco’s chocolate-covered caramel apple

This is a large enrobed apple presented in a domed container; mine weighed in at 14 ounces.  The chocolate and caramel pooled during production, providing a thick ring of goodness – as the photo above shows.   Upon further inspection I found that the caramel was, indeed, quite soft, putting any fears about fillings and crowns to rest.  It sliced easily while retaining integrity.

Costco's chocolate-covered caramel apple cut in half

Costco’s chocolate-covered caramel apple cut in half

In terms of flavor, texture and overall impact, this is a winner.  The apple was fresh, crisp and tart.  The chocolate of a decent quality and not overly sweet.  The caramel creamy.

While there was some caramel around the entire apple, I wished that layer was a bit thicker, but I have no real complaints.  This is a very, very good product and I will purchase it again when the craving strikes.

Well worth it at $5.99.

Your basic tripe stew

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Tripe stew in the Polish tradition - red from the paprika!

Tripe stew in the Polish tradition – red from the paprika!

We love tripe.  My Mom is from Germany, and her family ate everything edible on an animal, and passed that principle down to me.

I often have tripe at dimsum, and it’s a real treat.  It’s usually served two ways.  Honeycomb tripe (from the second stomach structure of a cow) is stewed with turnips in sauce, rendering it soft and savory.  Book tripe, from the third stomach structure (I say this because cows technically don’t have four stomachs), is steamed with scallions and ginger and served with a light dipping sauce.  Try one or both when you go for dimsum just to see if you can deal with the texture, which is the issue for most Americans.

I make it at home once every few years.  It’s readily available at Asian markets, like 99 Ranch, and pretty easy to deal with, since most of the tripe sold nowadays has been thoroughly cleaned and blanched.

For the recipe that follows, use honeycomb tripe, which has little honeycomb indentations on one side.  Don’t use book tripe, which is the other one commonly sold.  Book (aka leaf) tripe has thin strips on one side, and does not work as well in a stew.

This is more or less a Polish recipe, but I’ve futzed with it over the years.

Serve with a soft starch, if you like, but I want textural contrast, so I eat it with a crispy baguette.

Renate’s Tripe Stew
     serves 6, if you have sides and/or plenty of bread

2 1/2 pounds honeycomb tripe
3 tablespoons Canola oil
1 rib celery, de-stringed/small dice
1 large carrot, small dice
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/3 cup tomato paste
2 – 3 cups chicken stock
2 teaspoons sweet paprika
1 teaspoon ground marjoram
Salt & pepper

1).  Rinse tripe and scrub well with Kosher salt on both sides.  Rinse several times.  Cut into 1/2 inch strips that are 3 – 4 inches long.  Boil strips  for 40 mins.  Drain well and set aside.
2).  Saute celery, carrot, onion and garlic in oil in heavy gauge pot until soft and golden brown.  Do not allow to brown too much or to burn!
3).  Add tomato paste and fry in vegetables for about a minute.
4).  Add tripe and saute for about 5 minutes.
5).  Add paprika and marjoram and a little salt and pepper; salt is dependent upon saltiness of stock used.
6).  Add stock until ingredients are covered, but not swimming.
7).  Combine well, cover and allow to simmer for 1 1/4 hours.
8).  Remove cover and allow to simmer an additional 15 minutes.  If too dry, add a little more stock.
9).  Check for tenderness.  If not soft enough for you, cover and cook another 10 – 15 minutes.
10).  Adjust seasoning and enjoy!