Illustrative AI food photo: a bowl of bún bò Huế with red chili-oil broth, round rice noodles, beef shank and pork, with herbs and lime on the side

Guides · Cook it at home

If pho is a quiet, spiced broth, bún bò Huế is its loud cousin from the old imperial city of Huế in central Vietnam. The broth is built on pork and beef, perfumed with a lot of lemongrass, and deepened with fermented shrimp paste. Each bowl is finished with a red chili oil. The noodles are thick and round, with a satisfying chew.

The one ingredient that worries people is the shrimp paste (mắm ruốc). It smells strong straight from the jar. Dissolved and settled, it melts into the background and gives the broth a savoury depth that nothing else quite matches. Use less the first time if you are unsure.

Ingredients

Broth

  • 1.5 kg (3¼ lb) pork hocks, cut into 2.5 cm (1 in) rounds (ask the butcher), or pork neck bones
  • 1 kg (2¼ lb) beef shank, in one or two pieces
  • 6 stalks lemongrass
  • 1 large yellow onion, peeled and halved
  • 4.5 L (19 cups) cold water
  • 2 to 3 tbsp (30 to 45 ml) fine fermented shrimp paste (mắm ruốc)
  • 250 ml (1 cup) water, for the shrimp paste
  • 45 ml (3 tbsp) fish sauce, plus more to taste
  • 30 g (2½ tbsp) rock sugar or granulated sugar
  • 2 tsp (10 ml) kosher salt, plus more to taste

Chili lemongrass oil (sa tế)

  • 80 ml (⅓ cup) neutral oil
  • 3 tbsp (45 ml) finely minced lemongrass (from the stalks above)
  • 2 shallots, minced
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 to 3 tbsp (30 to 45 ml) chili flakes (Vietnamese or Korean gochugaru for milder heat)
  • 1 tsp (5 ml) sweet paprika or annatto powder, for colour

Bowls

  • 500 g (1 lb 2 oz) dried thick round rice noodles (labelled bún bò Huế), or 1 kg (2¼ lb) fresh
  • 200 g (7 oz) Vietnamese pork roll (chả lụa), sliced (optional)
  • ¼ head green cabbage or banana blossom, finely shredded
  • 200 g (7 oz) bean sprouts
  • Mint, cilantro, Thai basil and Vietnamese balm (kinh giới) if you can find it
  • 1 small white onion, thinly sliced; 4 green onions, sliced
  • 2 limes, cut into wedges

Method

  1. Blanch the meat. Cover the pork hocks and beef shank with cold water in a large pot, boil hard for 5 minutes, drain and rinse. Clean the pot.
  2. Prepare the lemongrass. Trim the lemongrass. Finely mince the tender lower part of two stalks and set aside 3 tbsp for the chili oil. Cut the remaining stalks into 10 cm (4 in) lengths and bruise them with the back of a knife, then tie them in a bundle.
  3. Simmer. Return the meat to the pot with 4.5 L (19 cups) water, the lemongrass bundle and the onion. Bring to a boil, skim, then hold at a gentle simmer. Lift out the beef shank after about 1½ hours, when it is tender but still holds together. Cool it in a bowl of cold water, then refrigerate. Keep simmering the pork for another hour, until it is very tender.
  4. Settle the shrimp paste. Stir the shrimp paste into 250 ml (1 cup) water and leave it for 10 minutes. Pour the cloudy liquid into the broth, leaving the gritty sediment behind. Add the fish sauce, sugar and salt and simmer 15 minutes more.
  5. Make the chili oil. Warm the oil in a small pan over medium-low heat. Add the minced lemongrass, shallot and garlic and cook gently for 3 to 4 minutes, until fragrant and just golden. Take the pan off the heat, stir in the chili flakes and paprika, and let it steep.
  6. Season. Remove the lemongrass bundle and onion. Stir 2 tbsp of the chili oil into the broth. Taste and adjust with fish sauce, sugar or salt. It should taste bold: salty, a little sweet, and fragrant with lemongrass.
  7. Cook the noodles. Boil the noodles according to the package, usually 8 to 12 minutes for dried. Drain and rinse under cold water to remove the starch. Thick round noodles go gummy if you skip the rinse.
  8. Assemble. Slice the beef shank thinly. Divide the noodles among bowls, add beef, a pork hock round or two and the pork roll, then ladle over boiling broth. Spoon chili oil on top and finish with onion and green onion. Serve the herbs, cabbage, sprouts and lime on the side.

Tips

  • Shrimp paste is salty and potent. Start with 2 tbsp, taste, and add the third only if the broth needs more depth.
  • Open a window or turn on the hood fan when you stir in the shrimp paste; the smell fades as it simmers.
  • Fresh lemongrass is best. Frozen minced lemongrass from Asian grocers works well for the chili oil.
  • The broth keeps 4 days in the fridge and 3 months frozen; freeze the chili oil separately.
  • For the traditional bowl, many cooks add cubes of cooked pork blood. It is sold at some Asian butchers; it is optional.

Where to buy the ingredients in Toronto

Look for pork hocks, beef shank, mắm ruốc (fine shrimp paste, often sold as "shrimp sauce") and thick bún bò Huế noodles at Asian supermarkets such as T&T, Btrust and Oceans. The Vietnamese grocers around Spadina Ave and Dundas St W, Gerrard St E and Finch Ave W are the best bet for chả lụa and fresh herbs like Vietnamese balm. Lemongrass is now common in large mainstream supermarkets too.

Elsewhere in Canada, large Asian supermarkets and Vietnamese grocers carry the same staples.

Prefer to eat it out?

For a bowl made by people who cook it every day, the Vietnamese spots on YumYak are a good place to start: Pho Tien Thanh, Pho Ngoc Yen and The Lunch Lady.