Bo kho, the beef stew Saigon eats for breakfast
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Bo kho is a beef stew eaten at eight in the morning with a baguette torn into it. That makes it the most French thing on a Vietnamese breakfast menu and one of the least French tasting.
What goes into a bo kho pot?
Shin or brisket, cut into cubes and cooked for three or four hours, in a broth built on lemongrass, star anise, cinnamon and five-spice. Annatto seed gives the colour, which is why the surface is orange-red rather than brown.
Carrot goes in whole or in rounds and comes out soft enough to break with a spoon. A pot is built from 2 to 3 kg of shin and simmers for 3 to 4 hours. Tomato, garlic, shallot and a spoonful of fish sauce do the rest. What the pot is not is thick. This is a fragrant broth with beef in it, closer to a stew-soup than to anything a European kitchen would ladle.
Bread, noodles or nothing?
All three are on the board and the counter will not blink at any of them. Banh mi is the most common choice in Saigon, and the bread is for tearing and dipping rather than for a sandwich. A bowl runs 40,000 to 70,000 dong, or 1.50 to 2.70 US dollars at 26,000 dong to the dollar, and the loaf is usually thrown in.
Mi, the yellow egg noodle, and bun, the round rice noodle, turn the same bowl into a noodle soup. Some people take the stew on its own with rice on the side. The banh mi guide covers the bread itself, which is the same loaf in both cases.
| What | Bo kho | Pho | Bun bo Hue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base | Beef stew, annatto | Clear beef broth | Beef bone, lemongrass, shrimp paste |
| Colour | Orange-red | Pale brown | Deep red |
| Eaten with | Bread, mi or bun | Banh pho noodles | Thick round noodles |
| Time of day | Breakfast, mostly | Any | Breakfast, mostly |
| Heat | None until you add it | None | Real |
Why is there a baguette in it?
Because the dish grew up alongside French cooking and kept the parts that suited it. The beef, the carrot and the bread all point the same way. So does the word kho, which here means a long braise rather than the dry caramel braise of thit kho.
What Vietnam added is the aromatics. Lemongrass, star anise and annatto are not in a boeuf bourguignon. They are why a bowl of bo kho smells like Vietnam from three tables away.
When do people eat it?
Breakfast, overwhelmingly. Stalls open at five or six and the pot has been going since the night before. By ten the good ones are scraping the bottom of it, which is the pattern in the breakfast guide.
The pot appears again at night in the beer streets and at roadside stops on long drives. A bowl and a baguette is what a driver eats at one in the morning. Lunchtime is the one gap.
What should you ask for?
Say bo kho and point at the carbohydrate you want. Useful additions: gan for tendon, which is the part regulars order, and nhieu nuoc for more broth if you are dipping bread.
The table will carry chilli, lime, salt and pepper, and a plate of basil and coriander. Squeeze the lime, tear the herbs in and use the chilli. The ordering guide covers how a counter like this works if the language is a problem.
Where is the best of it?
Saigon, and specifically the stalls that sell bo kho and nothing else, which are scattered through District 1, District 3 and the market edges. A stall with one dish on the board has had one pot to think about since before dawn.
Ho Chi Minh City is where to eat it. It is cooked everywhere now, and a good bowl turns up in Da Lat and along the coast. What is rarer in the north is a stall that specialises: in Hanoi it is usually one line on a longer menu.
Is it safe from a street counter?
Yes, and it is one of the safer things on a pavement. The pot is held at a simmer for hours and the beef has been cooked to collapse. The bowl is ladled hot in front of you.
The parts to think about are the same as always: the raw herb plate, and whether the counter is busy enough to be turning stock over. The street food safety guide sets out what is worth checking and what is not worth worrying about.
FAQ
What is bo kho?
Bo kho is a southern Vietnamese beef stew, built on lemongrass, star anise, five-spice and annatto seed, with carrot and shin beef cooked until it gives. It is eaten with a baguette, with rice noodles or with egg noodles, most often at breakfast.
What does bo kho taste like?
Deeply savoury and gently sweet, with the anise and cinnamon of pho against the tomato-red colour of annatto. It is thinner than a European stew and far more aromatic, and the lemongrass is what keeps it from feeling heavy at eight in the morning.
Is bo kho eaten with bread or with noodles?
Both, and the choice is yours at the counter. Banh mi is the most common in Saigon, mi (egg noodles) and bun (rice noodles) are on the same board, and asking for bo kho with no carbohydrate at all will confuse nobody.
What does a bowl of bo kho cost?
Roughly 40,000 to 70,000 dong at a street counter, or 1.50 to 2.70 US dollars at 26,000 dong to the dollar. A bowl with extra beef or with tendon costs more, and the baguette is usually included or charged at a few thousand dong.
Where is bo kho from?
The south, and the dish carries a clear French trace in the beef, the carrot and the bread it is served with. It is cooked across the country now, but a Saigon morning is where it belongs and where the stalls selling nothing else are.
Is bo kho spicy?
Not by default. The heat comes from the chilli you add yourself, and the base is aromatic rather than hot. A stall will have chilli, lime and herbs on the table, which is where the bowl gets adjusted.