Vietnamese Bourguignon

Vietnamese Bourguignon or commonly known in Vietnam as Bò Kho, is a staple. Tender and surrounded by a delicious broth. Beef is often used, but we used a veggie alternative. Before we start, you can use almost any vegetables in this. This delicious recipe serves 5-6 people.

You’ll need:

• 5 shallots quartered or 1 onion roughly chopped

• 5 cloves of garlic smashed

• 15g (2cm) ginger chopped

• 1½ tsp Chinese five spice powder

• ~400g sausage (I used veggie sausages) sliced into thirds

Fry shallots, garlic, ginger, spices and sausages until lightly browned.

Then add:

• 2-4 red jalapeño or any red chilli or 2 tsp of chilli powder or chilli flakes (optional)

• 1 tbsp tamari or soy sauce

• 1½ tsp sugar

• 1 tbsp black vinegar or any alt. vinegar

• 60ml red wine

Add sausages and fry for a few minutes until golden brown. Then add the tamari, vinegar & wine and cook for around 5 minutes until the courgettes have softened.

• 1 tin of tomatoes or 6 tomatoes blended

• 1 vegetable stock cube (optional)

Simmer for 20 minutes or until the sauce is thick and the carrots are cooked.

Pick 3-4 of these options:

• 1 carrot diced (takes ~20 mins)

• 80g beetroot cubed (takes ~20 mins)

• Butternut squash or pumpkin cubed (takes ~20 mins)

• 1 courgette (zucchini) halved lengthways and diced (takes ~15 mins)

• ½ broccoli split into small florets and dice the stalks (like you would carrots) (takes ~10 mins)

• Green beans halved (takes ~8 mins)

• Asparagus chopped into 1” / 2.5cm pcs (takes ~1 min)

• Spinach (diced) or baby spinach (whole) (takes ~1 min)

Add to the pan with the shallots and garlic etc… Put the lid on the pan. Simmer each veg for the appropriate time. Stir every couple of minutes. If the sauce gets too dry, add a bit more water. If it’s too runny, keep the lid off!!

Serve with:

• ½ cup white rice per person

• Fresh mint, parsley & coriander (optional)

• Chilli flakes

• Green jalapeños finely sliced

Or:

• 100g rice noodles per person

• 120ml water

• 1 vegetable stock cube

• Thai basil, mint, coriander & bean sprouts (optional)

Add the Vietnamese Bourguignon with the water, stock and noodle and boil until the noodles are soft. Thai noodles take less than 1 minute to cook, others may take longer. 

Or:

• 90g of pasta per person

• Fresh mint, parsley & coriander (optional)

• Chilli flakes

Boil the Penne to your desired denténess and simply mix in.