Vietnamese beef stew
Five out of the ten times we ate at Pho Hoa Restaurant, my husband ordered the beef stew served with buttered French bread (see photo). I’ve tasted it, liked it, and promised him that, someday, I’d cook Vietnamese beef stew at home. My husband, Speedy, was away for three days on a planning workshop and he’s coming back tonight. I thought that Vietnamese beef stew for dinner would make for a nice homecoming especially since the food at the hotel where they stayed was what he described as “lackadaisical.” Okay, I think he deserves a really good dinner after three days of eating so-so meals.
I must warn you that this is a deconstructed recipe. I did find a recipe for beef stew in one of the three Vietnamese cookbooks that I have but I felt that the list of spices was kind of “blonde.” It happens when you have Westerners cooking their version of Asian dishes and they are not that familiar with indigenous spices. So, what I did was to add more spices according to how my taste buds interpreted the ingredients in Pho Hoa’s beef stew. It’s a pretty simple recipe, really, and it’s the combination of spices that can be quite intimidating rather than the cooking procedure itself. But if you can get over the prejudice against the pungent spices, the cooked dish is just wonderful.
Click the link to page 2 for the recipe.
Tagged: Asian, beef, lemongrass, spicy, star anise, stew, turmeric, Vietnamese
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Your recipe sounds delish! Interestingly enough, a Vietnamese mommy-friend from my son’s piano class gave me a recipe too for pho. She said that star anise gives it the distinct aroma or flavor.
I was planning to make it sometime next week. I might post a similar version with photos too.
I truly enjoy visiting your site. I am learning a whole lot about cooking.
Hi Connie, this sounds perfect to impress a guy!
Mary, some use cinnamon bark instead of star anise. Am not sure if using both will yield good results.
Gay, cowboy food, ‘no? Spicy and meaty. Sounds macho. LOL
“blonde” LOL. I love turmeric. Watch out for it to be one of the top 10 ingredients in the beauty industry in 2009
. But of course, we Asians knew all it’s other benefits besides being as a cooking spice way before the others did 
I struggled with the best description and “blonde” seemed more descriptive than “bland”. hehehe
Turmeric in beauty products? Talk about going organic. LOL
Oh yes, pang-alis daw ng pimples ang turmeric. Just make a paste with milk and rub. That’s according to my Nepalese friend. Dunno if it works though.
when making broth for beef (beef/wanton) noodle soup, we usually put cinnamon bark, cloves AND star anise, but not much as the flavor they impart are quite strong. for a liter of broth, say a small piece of cinnamon bark, 2 pcs of start anise and about 4 cloves.
Back in the 70s, my lola from Bacolod used to make my facial paste once a week with 1 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp. milk & half slice of kalamansi. The result was good. My pimples dried up immediately and my skin was smooth.
Can I use powdered turmeric?
Yes.