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Bun Bo Nam Bo

Bun Bo Nam Bo

Vietnamese noodle salad bowl with beef

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Bún bò Nam Bô or a Vietnamese noodle salad with marinated beef is one of my favourite meals. Always when I eat it I am overwhelmed by all the flavours this bowl brings together. Marinated beef, peanuts, sprouts, pickled veggies, fresh herbs, fried onions...all soaked in a spicy dipping sauce “nuoc cham”. I have had it many times in various Vietnamese bistros in Prague and I was hunting for it while in Vietnam where it was successfully hiding from me (and I also found out it was more of a northern Vietnamese food while we were only exploring the south). Finally I got my bowl at the food market near Mui Ne and was super happy to try the local version. Today Vietnam is in my kitchen but hopefully I will be able to go back there soon. Till then, I travel by food :)

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  1. start with pickled carrots and daikon radish as this needs a lot of time - ideally do this one day in advance

  2. continue with marinating the beef

  3. prepare spicy dipping sauce, noodles and all the toppings

  4. cook the meat

  5. put everything you love into your bowl

  6. ENJOY

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PS: For more photos check out the GALLERY.

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Pickled Carrots & Daikon Radish - Đồ Chua

 

  • 1 carrot

  • ½ daikon radish

  • 1 teaspoon salt

  • 1,5 tablespoon sugar

  • 250 ml warm water

  • 150 ml rice vinegar

 

  1. Cut washed and peeled carrots and daikon radish to long thin slices/juliene - ideally use a julienne slicer or a good veggie shredder.

  2. Put the same amount of carrot and daikon radish into the bowl and add salt.

  3. Massage the salt into the vegetables for around 2 minutes - till the texture is softened = the sticks do not break when you bend them.

  4. Wash the vegetables with water and let them drain a bit.

  5. Move vegetables to the glass jar/s.

  6. In a small bowl put together warm water, sugar and rice vinegar, whisk until the sugar dissolves, then pour over the veggies.

  7. Put the lid/s on the jar/s and keep in fridge for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight.

  8. I read online you can store these in the fridge for 14 days, but I always ate mine within max. 5 day so can not confirm this :))

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Lemongrass Beef

 

  • 400 g of beef - rib eye/flank/sirloin (I used rib eye)

  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh lemongrass

  • 2 teaspoons chopped fresh ginger

  • 3 cloves chopped garlic

  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce

  • 1 tablespoon oyster sauce

  • 4 teaspoons rice vinegar

  • 4 teaspoons sunflower oil

  • 2 teaspoons honey

  • a pinch of salt and chili powder

  • some extra sunflower oil for cooking the beef

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  1. Cut the beef across the grain into thin slices, put into a zipper plastic bag or a bowl with a tight fitting lid.

  2. Put all the other ingredients together in a bowl, whisk until you get a consistent marinade.

  3. Pour the marinade over the beef, massage with your hands, remove the air from the bag.

  4. Keep in the fridge for at least two hours (the longer the better - up to overnight).

  5. Remove from the fridge 30 minutes before cooking, keep in room temperature.

  6. When ready to cook, move your meat out from the marinade and dry it gently with a paper towel - this is to remove extensive marinade so that it does not burn on the pan.

  7. Put the pan with some oil on a high heat.

  8. Once the oil is hot enough, put the beef slices in, not all at once, just to cover the pan in one layer - once it is covered, you can start turning around the first meats slices as they are thin, they do not need much longer to be perfectly cooked.

  9. Repeat until all the meat is cooked, keep warm in a food container.

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Spicy dipping sauce “nuoc cham” 

 

  • 3 tablespoons fish sauce

  • 2 tablespoons rice vinegar

  • 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice 

  • 2 cloves garlic - finely chopped

  • 3 tablespoons brown sugar

  • 1 fresh rawit chili - chopped

  • hot water

 

Noodles

 

  • 250 g thin rice noodles/vermicelli

  • 1 tablespoon rice vinegar

 

Toppings

 

  • crushed unsalted peanuts

  • fried onions

  • chopped fresh herbs - cilantro, perila, mint

  • mung beans sprouts

  • chopped lettuce

  • shredded cucumber

  • pickled carrots and daikon

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  1. Cook the rice noodles according to the instructions on the packaging.

  2. Prepare the spicy dipping sauce by putting together all the ingredients and adding the hot water till the flavour is balanced. Whisk properly till the sugar dissolves.

  3. To assemble your salad bowl, put in the noodles in the middle, herbs, lettuce, cucumber, pickled veggies and sprouts around it, top up with marinated beef, fried onions and chopped peanuts. Pour in some spicy sauce - not all at once, adjust according to your preference. 

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