Vietnamese Spicy Beef Noodle Soup (Bun Bo Hue)

When we think of Vietnamese food, people usually think of Phở, a very popular Vietnamese noodle soup made from either beef (Phở Bò) or chicken (Phở Gà). But have you heard of its fiery cousin, Bún Bò Huế?

Bún Bò Huế isn’t quite as popular as Phở but I think it’s slowly getting into the spotlight as one of the tastiest Vietnamese noodle soup dishes.

What is Bun Bo Hue?

Bún is noodles, Bò is beef, and Huế is a city in Central Vietnam, also the former capital of Vietnam, from which it originated.

Despite its name, Bún Bò Huế is also made from pork bones. This can cause a lot of confusion on a menu, especially if you don’t eat pork.

The broth for Bún Bò Huế is prepared by slowly simmering various types of beef and pork bones (ox tail, beef shank, pork neck bones, pork feet, and pork knuckles/ham hocks) and loads of fresh lemongrass.

To assemble a bowl of Bun Bo Hue, thick round rice noodles are added to a bowl and then topped with slices of meat, meaty bones, and cubes of congealed pig’s blood (blood cake).

The savory broth is ladled on top of the rice noodles.

The bowl is finished with a garnish of green onions, cilantro, and/or thinly sliced white onions.

The bowl is served alongside a vegetable platter of lime wedges, shredded white and purple cabbage, banana blossoms, bean sprouts, mint leaves, water spinach, and other Vietnamese herbs.

Sometimes a small bowl of fermented shrimp (mắm ruốc) and additional sate sauce are served on the side for further customization.

Vietnamese Chili Sauce (Ot Sa Te)

The fiery spices in Bun Bo Hue are made up of frying together shallots, lemongrass, garlic, red pepper powder, and fresh chilies in neutral oil and then seasoning the mixture with fish sauce, sugar and if your heart desires, a bit of MSG.

Sometimes, ground annatto seeds or annatto oil are used instead of neutral oil to achieve a more vibrant red color.

This spicy mixture is what we call Ớt Sa Tế or Vietnamese chili sauce.

You can make the Vietnamese chili sauce in advance, which allows you to have part of the Bun Bo Hue recipe already done, speeding up the process. I have the full recipe here with video here.

If not, no worries. I’ll still show you how to make the chili sauce below.

The Use of Pineapple in Bun Bo Hue

I always get people scoffing at the fact that I add pineapple in my stock.

“My grandmother and mother never add a pineapple. That’s not authentic!” is what some would say.

But if these people simply give it a try, they’ll realize it works very nicely. It’s just the same purpose as squeezing a lime in at the end of the finished bowl, where the acidity complements the fatty flavor of the broth.

The use of pineapple in the stock is something I learned from watching Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations (RIP Mr. Bourdain) when he interviewed The Lunch Lady in Vietnam.

She added a very ripe pineapple to her stock. The addition of pineapple tenderizes the meat and also gives the broth a very delightful fruity and citrusy flavor. Of course, you can always squeeze in a bit of lime juice at the end too.

This tip really took my broth to a whole new level so I highly recommend it.

If you don’t have fresh pineapple, you can use canned pineapple. I used a small can and used both the pineapple and all its juice. It works just as well.

Fun Tip: If you are ever in the city of Hue in Central Vietnam, this noodle soup dish is called Bun Bo, not Bun Bo Hue. If you are outside of Hue and its surrounding cities, then the dish is referred to as Bun Ho Hue. 

Full recipe below. Enjoy!

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