Bun Bo Xao

Vietnamese noodle salad with beef

Vietnam

Main course
4 persons
35
Medium

Vietnamese dishes are often very light, super healthy and most of all delicious. So is this beef noodle salad called Bun Bo Xao! It is a dish that is built in layers. First, you start with a generous layer of lukewarm rice noodles. On top of that come the fresh vegetables such as julienne cut carrots and cucumber and bean sprouts. The next layer is the beef cut into strips. Next come the fresh herbs on top such as cilantro and mint. Finally, top it all off with roasted and crushed peanuts and fried shallots. But what really finishes the dish is the special dressing/sauce they call nước mắm pha in Vietnam. It is a sauce composed of fish sauce, sambal and garlic, among others. The Umami flavor of this sauce binds the ingredients into a wonderful noodle salad with tremendous flavor!

Ingredients

300 g Steak sliced into strips

5 cloves of garlic crushed or chopped small

1 tsp finely chopped lemongrass (use the white middle part)

150 g Bean sprouts

150 g Carrot Julienne sliced

150 g Cucumber julienne sliced

150 ml Hot water

1 Lime: squeezed

5 tbsp Sugar

1 finely chopped red chili pepper

2 Sprigs fresh mint leaves

2 Sprigs fresh coriander

Preparation method for Bun Bo Xao

Soak the rice noodles in lukewarm water for a while (about 20 minutes), then cook them for about 2-3 minutes until tender. Drain them and let them cool for a while until lukewarm.
Make the marinade for the steak by mixing 4 tbsp of Vietnamese fish sauce with 2 cloves of crushed garlic and 1 tsp of chopped lemongrass. Cut the steak into strips and marinate the steak strips in the marinade.
Cut the carrot, cucumber and any other vegetables (to your taste) nicely julienne. This means making very long thin strips of them. You can do this by hand, but you can often also find them ready-made in the supermarket.
Now make the dressing/sauce (nước mắm pha). Take 150 ml of warm water and mix in 5 tbsp of fish sauce. Then add 3 crushed cloves of garlic, the lime juice of 1 lime, 5 tbsp sugar and 1 tsp sambal. Mix this well and finally add in a finely chopped red pepper. Mix it one last time. Now set your dressing aside for a while.
Divide the lukewarm rice noodles between 4 bowls and then also divide the carrots, cucumbers, bean sprouts and any other vegetables over the rice noodles.
Heat some peanut oil in a wok and fry the beef strips for about 2 minutes. You can then also briefly roast your peanuts in it.
Now divide the beef strips among the 4 bowls, on top of the noodles and vegetables.
Finally, distribute the fresh herbs, roasted peanuts and fried shallots over the dishes.
Serve the bowls to your guests and serve the nước mắm pha sauce in a separate bowl so they can pour it on top themselves. Enjoy your meal!to 6 parts)