I’ve made Bò Kho (Simmered Beef) quite often. At least once a month. But the result was never consistent: too sweet, too bland; even though Eric loves it everytime. This evening, I decided to make Bo Kho and other dishes, and it turned out to be the best Bo Kho.

I think the trick here is to think of Bo Kho as a ragout variation of Phở. Bò Kho is made of beef, ginger, onion, star anise. And the European ragout version comes with carrots and tomato.

It’s the perfect dish for a lazy evening, since it doesn’t take much advanced preparation. You just dump everything together in the pot, stir-fry it for few minutes, then let it simmer while you surf the net :)

• 3 lbs beef shanks, cut in 2-inch cubes
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1/2 pre-mix bò kho (got mine at Lion’s)
• Bunch of minced lemon grass (or not)
• some ginger (about thumbsize)
• 1 star anise
• 1 can of coco drink
• 1 can of chicken broth or just plain water.  I use the small size can of Swanson chicken broth, and just add water to cover the meat.
• 2 squirts of ketchup or tomato paste
• 1 small bag of washed baby carrots
• 1 medium daikon, cut
• Seasoning with salt, nuoc mam

Pot over medium heat. Add beef, pre-mix, lemon grass, garlic, salt, ginger, and stir-fry. I don’t use extra oil to stir-fry, because the fat will come out of the beef shanks. I make sure the pre-mix is stir-fried with the beef (as opposed to adding it to the broth later), because that’s how the red seasoning floats to the surface and gives the dish its red film on the surface.

Add onion and ketchup/tomato paste.

Add star anise, coco, and chicken broth. Keep pot covered. Simmer at medium low heat. Add more water or broth to cover the meat.

When meat is a bit tender ( 1 hour maybe?), add carrots and daikon. Meat should be tender but not falling apart.

Season with fish sauce. (there is no need to add sugar, since the coco drink itself is already sweet).

Bò Kho is done when the carrots and daikon are soft. Serve with sliced onions and cilantro, lemon, salt/pepper. I like Bò Kho with french bread, but I’ve seen Bò Kho served with Phở noodles or Chinese egg noodles.