For Better Beef Stew, Make It the Vietnamese Way

While my father’s family is from northern Vietnam, he and my grandmother, Ah Ma, often enjoyed the dishes of southern Vietnam, such as bò kho (Vietnamese beef stew). Growing up, I especially loved the nuanced flavors in bò kho, thanks to its lovely mix of ingredients such as star anise, lemongrass, and fish sauce. The three work well together to add depth and aroma to the broth. Bò kho can also be spicy with chilies cooked in the broth or served with Thai chili peppers.

You can upgrade practically any beef stew recipe using the ingredients that make bò kho so flavorful. While making more Western-style beef stews that leaned a little bland or too sweet for my taste (due to onions and carrots), I incorporated bò kho ingredients into the broth.

Three Ingredients for Better Beef Stew

Star anise adds aroma, slight pepperiness, and earthy undertones. Fish sauce amps up all the umami in the stew, and it’s already my go-to beef stew upgrade. As for lemongrass, it brings a citrusy aroma and herbaceousness. Together, these three ingredients will take almost any beef stew to new heights.

How To Give Your Beef Stew the Vietnamese Treatment

To start, use your favorite beef stew recipe as the base. You can incorporate the lemongrass, fish sauce, and star anise in a few ways. One way is to marinate the beef with lemongrass and fish sauce while reserving the star anise (two to three pods) to incorporate directly into the broth. Mince the lemongrass and grind it into a paste to marinate the beef (use a mortar and pestle or small food processor). Then, save the marinade and add it to the broth as well.

A second way is to cut the lemongrass stalk into pieces and add it to the broth along with the star anise. Stir in the fish sauce toward the end of cooking, using about one tablespoon to start. Give it a taste and see how you like it before adding more. Before serving the beef stew, you can fish out the lemongrass stalks and pieces of star anise.

Having given your beef stew a Vietnamese spin, consider serving it with steamed white rice instead of bread or mashed potatoes. Finally, for spicy food lovers, don’t forget the Thai chili peppers or a squirt of sriracha. As you enjoy it, I hope it brings as much warmth to your dinner table as it has to mine.

Each hot bite of bò kho-inspired beef stew feels like warm hugs from my late father and Ah Ma. There they are, still seated at my dinner table, their memories lingering in the fragrant steam rising from beef stew flavored with a taste of their homeland, Vietnam.