Bun Bo Grilled Lemongrass Beef Noodle Salad Recipes

THE BEST BúN Bò Xả ỚT - VIETNAMESE LEMONGRASS BEEF RECIPE

Steps:

• At least 1 hour before (overnight is better), marinate the beef: crush 1 tablespoon of sugar, half the ginger, 2 cloves of garlic, half the lemongrass, and 1 Thai chili in a mortar and pestle. Combine with the thinly sliced beef, along with 1 tablespoon each of fish sauce, oyster sauce, and oil. Mix well, then cover and store in the fridge.
• At the same time, make your fish sauce: combine the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar, 1 tablespoon of ginger, 4 cloves of garlic, and 2-4 Thai chilies (as comfortable) in a mortar and pestle. Crush into a fine paste, then transfer to a jar along with 2 tablespoons of fish sauce and 1 cup of water. Store in the fridge.
• When you are ready to eat, cook your vermicelli to the time indicated on the package (usually 3 minutes), then drain and rinse well with cold water. Set aside. Prepare your vegetables. In the photo, I used quick pickled cucumbers, purple cabbage, lettuce, cilantro, lime, and fried onions.
• To make quick pickled cucumbers, thinly slice 1/4 of an English cucumber, then toss with 1 teaspoon salt and 1 tablespoon sugar. Let sit for 15 minutes, then rinse in cold water.
• Heat a large nonstick skillet with 1 tablespoon of oil over medium heat. Fry your remaining 1 tablespoon of minced lemongrass until crispy and golden brown, then drain and set aside, reserving the oil.
• Add the marinated meat to the skillet and fry until well charred on both sides. You may need to do this in batches depending on the size of your nonstick skillet.
• Arrange vermicelli, vegetables, and beef in a bowl. Toss with 1/4 cup of the fish sauce, then top with fried lemongrass, fried shallots, a squeeze of lime, and sliced chilies, as desired.

VIETNAMESE LEMONGRASS BEEF AND NOODLE SALAD

Steps:

• In a small bowl combine sugar, rice vinegar and lime juice and stir to dissolve. Add fish sauce, garlic, ginger, chiles and 1/2 cup water and stir together. Let sit for 15 minutes for flavors to meld. (May be prepared a day ahead and refrigerated.)
• Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Add rice noodles, stir and turn off heat. Let noodles soften (5 to 8 minutes, depending on brand), then drain and rinse with cold water. Leave in colander at room temperature.
• Meanwhile, combine beef, fish sauce, sugar, garlic and lemon grass in a bowl. Massage seasoning into beef and let sit for 15 minutes.
• Line a serving bowl or four individual large wide soup bowls with a few lettuce leaves and top with noodles.
• Heat the oil in a wok over high heat. When wok is nearly smoking, add beef and quickly stir-fry until lightly browned and just cooked, about 2 minutes. Work in batches if necessary so meat browns and doesn't steam. (If you do not have a wok, you may use a cast iron skillet and work in batches.)
• Top noodles with cooked beef, scallions, carrot, cucumber and daikon. Sprinkle with herbs, crushed peanuts and fried shallots (add sprouts if using). Drizzle lightly with dipping sauce and pass remaining sauce at table.

BUN BO (GRILLED LEMONGRASS BEEF NOODLE SALAD)

Steps:

• To make the marinade paste, pound the onion, garlic and lemongrass with a mortar and pestle or with a food processor until coarse. Add in the salt, black pepper, curry powder if desired, and fish sauce. Stir mixture over the beef and marinate for 1 hour or overnight if possible.
• Bring a saucepan of water to the boil, add the vermicelli noodles and cook for 3-5 minutes or until tender. Drain, refresh under cold water, drain again and set aside.
• Thread the meat strips onto the bamboo skewers. Grill till done to taste.
• To serve, place a portion of noodles in a large soup bowl. Then place the beef, lettuce, cucumber, bean sprouts, mint leaves, fresh coriander, carrot and 1 teaspoon crushed peanuts on top of the noodles. Dress the ingredients with 2 tablespoons nuoc cham, or more to taste - I use around 4 tablespoons for each serving. Toss the ingredients together and serve. Repeat the process for each serving.

VIETNAMESE NOODLE SALAD WITH LEMONGRASS BEEF (BUN BO XAO)

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Cut the sirloin against the grain into slices a little less than a quarter of an inch thick.
• Then, cut each slice into chunks about 1/2-inch wide. Place into a medium bowl.
• Mix the beef chunks with the nước mắm (fish sauce), garlic, and lemongrass.
• Divide the noodles between 2 bowls. Top with the julienned cucumber, pickled carrot and radish and finger chilie (if using).
• Heat the peanut oil in a wok to smoking point. Stir-fry the beef for about 2 minutes.
• Divide the beef between the 2 bowls.
• Top with fresh herbs, peanuts, and fried shallots.
• Serve with nước mắm pha on the side.

GRILLED LEMONGRASS BEEF

Steps:

• This is great with the Vietnamese Herb and Salad Plate (some or all of Asian basil leaves, mint leaves, coriander sprigs, leaf letter, small scallions, lime wedges, bird chiles, cucumber, bean sprouts, carrot & daikon (fresh or pickled)).
• Combine the lemongrass, garlic, shallots, and chile in a mortar. Pound into a paste. You can do this in the blender, adding a bit of water.
• Transfer to a bowl and add fish sauce, lime juice, and water. Blend well. Add the sesame oil, blend, and set aside.
• Cut the meat into very thin slices (less than 1/8 in if you can. This is MUCH easier partly frozen). Cut the slices into 1 1/2 inch lengths. Place the meat in the marinade. Cover and marinate 1 hour at room temperature or up to 8 hours refrigerated.
• Thread the meat onto skewers and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Lightly oil the grill rack or broiler pan. Grill meat for 1 min each side (medium rare) or until thoroughly cooked.
• Serve with salad and nuoc cham (Vietnamese table sauce) or nuoc leo (Vietnamese peanut sauce).

BUN (VIETNAMESE HERB NOODLE SALAD)

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Turn off the heat and add the noodles; let sit for 2 minutes.
• Remove noodles from hot water and shock them by placing them in a bowl of ice water. Drain in a colander.
• Place the noodles onto a serving bowl and cover with the cucumber, scallions and herbs. Garnish with black pepper, garlic and peanuts.
• Before serving, pour the Nuac Cham sauce over all and toss before serving.

GRILLED LEMONGRASS BEEF AND NOODLE SALAD

Steps:

• Make marinade:
• Thinly slice lower 6 inches of lemongrass stalks, discarding remainder of stalks. In a food processor or blender finely grind together sliced lemongrass and garlic. Add remaining marinade ingredients and blend well.
• In a large resealable plastic bag combine marinade and steak and seal bag, pressing out excess air. Marinate steak, chilled, turning bag once or twice, at least 4 hours or overnight.
• In a large bowl soak noodles in hot water to cover 15 minutes, or until softened and pliable.
• Prepare grill (or preheat broiler). Bring a kettle of salted water to a boil for noodles.
• Discard marinade and grill steak on an oiled rack set 5 to 6 inches over glowing coals 3 to 5 minutes on each side for medium-rare. (Alternatively, steak may be broiled on rack of a broiler pan about 3 inches from heat about same amount of time.) Transfer steak to a cutting board and let stand 5 minutes.
• While steak is cooking, drain noodles in a colander and cook in boiling water 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until just tender. In a colander drain noodles and rinse under cold water to stop cooking. Drain noodles well.
• In a large bowl toss noodles with herbs and half of nuoc cham. Divide cucumber among 4 bowls or plates and top with noodles. Sprinkle each serving with 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons rice powder. Thinly slice steak on the diagonal and divide among noodles, mounding it. Sprinkle chilies over each serving and garnish with herb sprigs. Serve remaining nuoc cham on the side.

LEMONGRASS BEEF AND ONION NOODLE SALAD (BUN BO)

Steps:

• To make the dipping sauce: In a mortar, pound together the garlic and red chili with a pestle until pureed (or pass the garlic clove through a garlic press). Mix in the lime juice, fish sauce, sugar and water and add the carrot. Set aside.
• Noodles: Drain the noodles in a colander, then pour boiling water over them. Let them sit in the hot water for about 5 minutes until tender. Drain, rinse thoroughly with cold running water and drain again. Set aside.
• Salad: To make the salad, in a large bowl, toss together the lettuce, cucumber, bean sprouts, carrot, basil and mint.
• Beef and onions: In a mortar and pestle, pound together the lemongrass, 3 garlic cloves and sugar until it is well combined. Add fish sauce and pepper to produce a paste. Add one tablespoon of the oil, mix well and add the meat; cover and set aside to marinate for at least 30 minutes.
• Preheat a wok or deep-fry pan over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, add the remaining 2 Tbs. oil and the remaining 3 garlic cloves and stir-fry until light golden brown, about 30 seconds. Add the onion and stir-fry until the layers separate, about 30 seconds more. Remove the onion and garlic from the pan.
• Add additional oil if the pan is dry (it shouldn't be). When the oil is hot, add a batch of the beef mixture and spread it over the bottom of the pan. Cook until the beef is nicely seared on the bottom, about 1 minute. Turn the beef over and sear the other side, about 1 minute more. Transfer the beef and onion to a plate. Fry the remaining beef mixture in batches.
• When all of the beef is seared, return the beef and onion to the wok and toss for a few seconds to reheat if required.
• To assemble: Divide the salad and noodles evenly among 4 shallow bowls or plates. Spoon one quarter of the beef-onion mixture over each salad. Garnish with the peanuts and fried shallots. Pour the dipping sauce into individual bowls and encourage diners to toss the salad to their liking, and add their own nuoc cham to taste.