Bo Kho - Vietnamese Beef Stew

Bo kho is Vietnamese beef stew. Read more here:
When I was in Saigon, one of the many dishes I wanted to eat was bo kho, or Vietnamese beef stew. After doing some online searching, thanks to Eating Saigon () I found a restaurant called Bò Kho Út Nhung, and since it was near to many other restaurants I was eating at in the area, one evening I stopped there for lunch.
Bò Kho Út Nhung was a small and home style restaurant, tucked off the main road into a neighborhood down a side street. As soon as we arrived for our bo kho meal, we were greeted by the owner, who was extremely kind and friendly and she made us feel warm and welcome. There were a few tables and chair a few stairs up in the main area of the restaurant, and there were also a few tables lined up outside along the street-side. We chose a table along the street, and it was a nice quiet and friendly place. There were two main ways we could order the beef stew, served in a bowl with banh mi, or baguettes on the side, or served over the top of a bed of noodles - in this case I think yellow egg noodles were one of the most popular choices. I decided to order the version with bread, and Ying my wife decided to go for the version with noodles on the bottom.
The pot of bo kho was sitting at the front of Bò Kho Út Nhung, sort of along the front of the street, on display for everyone to stop in for a bite to eat. I could smell the beef stew as soon as I came around the corner - and I knew I was in the right place - not to mention my hunger grew! The beef stew came with big nuggets of tenderly stewed beef, along with some big chunks of carrots, and whole shallots. The gravy was a little bit tangy, and it was perhaps a tomato base, but it wasn’t very strong tomato - just very light. But the gravy was rich and soothing, but unfortunately the version I ordered was way too greasy with too much oil floating around on top. Anyway, the beef was extremely tasty, and my favorite bites from the bowl of bo kho were the shallots, which were stewed until extremely tender, and when I took a bite, they just melted in my mouth, and burst open with the juices of the stew.
What I loved most about the Vietnamese beef stew is that it was served with all the extra garnishing herbs and vegetables that Vietnamese cuisine is so well known for - sawtooth coriander, cilantro, sweet basil, and Vietnamese coriander, as well as lime wedges, and some extra sauces for more flavor. To me, the extra herbs is what really makes Vietnamese street food so good, and I really liked them along with the bo kho.
The bo kho served with egg noodles, although I didn’t show it on this video, was actually better than the version I ordered that came with bread. For some reason, the egg noodle version included very little oil compared to the version I ordered which was much too greasy. In any case, it was a great experience to eat Vietnamese beef stew at Bò Kho Út Nhung, and the owner was extremely friendly as well.
Again, thank you to for this restaurant recommendation, be sure to check out their site for lots more delicious Vietnamese food suggestions in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City).
Address: 109/7 Nguyễn Thiện Thuật, District 3, Saigon
Open hours: The bo kho beef stew is available from 1 pm – 10 or 11 pm, the restaurant is opening the morning, but they serve pho, so if you’re looking for beef stew, come in the afternoon or night
Price: 35,000 VND ($1.62) per bowl, and I thought the portion size was pretty decent.
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Music in this video is from audionetwork.com
This food video was produced by Mark Wiens and Ying Wiens: &
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