Homemade bo bun boeuf: the Vietnamese recipe, step by step
Lemongrass marinade, a smoking-hot wok, a balanced nước chấm and a bowl built layer by layer.
Beef bo bun is bún bò Nam Bộ: a lukewarm southern bowl of vermicelli, seared lemongrass beef, vegetables, herbs and nem, with nước chấm on the side.
Not to be confused with bún bò Huế, a spicy soup from central Vietnam.
45 minutes of work plus marinating. And on busy days there is our beef bo bun on Faubourg Montmartre.
What is beef bo bun, exactly?
Bún bò Nam Bộ: what the name means
Bún means rice vermicelli, bò means beef, Nam Bộ means “the South”. In France it is written bo bun or bobun.
An everyday southern dish with no fixed version, but a few telling techniques.
For the story behind the name, see is bobun Thai?
Beef bo bun ≠ bún bò Huế
Bún bò Huế is a hot, spicy soup; it belongs in our guide to Vietnamese soups. Here, no broth.
The 5 components of a bowl
Vermicelli
The lukewarm base.
Stir-fried beef
Lemongrass-marinated, seared hot.
Vegetables & herbs
Lettuce, cucumber, mint, coriander.
Nems
Cut into pieces for crunch.
Sauce & toppings
Nước chấm, peanuts, fried shallots.
Ingredients (for 4 bowls)
Good beef, vermicelli, plenty of herbs, and fish sauce, sugar and lime.
500 g flank, rump or sirloin, sliced thin against the grain.
300 g dried bún, rinsed after cooking.
Mint, coriander, Thai basil, nems, peanuts.
| Ingredient | Quantity (4 bowls) |
|---|---|
| Beef (flank, rump or sirloin) | 500 g |
| Rice vermicelli (bún) | 300 g dried |
| Lemongrass | 2 stalks |
| Garlic | 4 cloves |
| Shallots | 3 |
| Fish sauce (nước mắm) | 6 tbsp total |
| Sugar | 5 tbsp total |
| Lime | 2–3 |
| Neutral oil | 3 tbsp |
| Lettuce, cucumber, carrot, bean sprouts | ½, 1, 2, 150 g |
| Mint, coriander, Thai basil | 1 bunch each |
| Roasted peanuts | 60 g |
| Nems (optional) | 4–8 |
| Fresh chilli | 1 |
Which cut of beef
Flank, rump or sirloin; avoid braising cuts.
Slice 2–3 mm against the grain after 20 minutes in the freezer.
Same thin-slice logic as our homemade phở bò.
Rice vermicelli: cooking without sticking
Thin round bún, 3–6 minutes in boiling water.
Rinse cold and drain 10 minutes.
Essential herbs and substitutes
Mint, coriander, Thai basil; rau răm and perilla if you can find them.
A full handful per bowl.
The lemongrass-garlic marinade
Mince the lemongrass as finely as possible.
The sugar caramelises in the wok.
How long to marinate
30 minutes minimum, 2 hours ideal.
No more than 12 hours.
Cooking the beef: hot, fast, in small batches
Heat, speed and space.
Smoking wok, 150–200 g per batch, 30 seconds untouched, then 1–1.5 minutes.
An overcrowded pan boils the meat instead of searing it.
Serve the beef hot.
Nước chấm: the sauce that makes bo bun
Salty, sweet, sour, lightly hot. Five minutes, keeps a week.
The 1-1-1-4 base and how to adjust it
fish sauce
4 tbsp
sugar
4 tbsp
lime
4 tbsp
warm water
16 tbsp
Dissolve sugar in water, add lime, then fish sauce.
Adjust with water, sugar or lime.
Garlic, chilli, carrot
Add minced garlic and chilli last, plus thin carrot sticks. About 60 ml per bowl.
Nems: homemade, bought or none?
Optional, but they add crunch.
Homemade, good frozen ones baked in the oven, or skip them and double the shallots.
Cut into pieces and add last.
Nem or spring roll? See nems vs spring rolls. Or try our nems.
Building the bowl, layer by layer
Lukewarm vermicelli, hot beef, fresh herbs.
- 1
Vegetables at the bottom. Lettuce, cucumber, sprouts.
- 2
Lukewarm vermicelli. About 75 g dried per bowl.
- 3
Hot beef. Straight from the wok.
- 4
Herbs. Mint, coriander, Thai basil.
- 5
Nems. Cut into pieces.
- 6
Toppings. Peanuts, fried shallots, lime.
- 7
Sauce on the side. About 60 ml.
Pour the sauce and toss from the bottom up.
Variations on beef bo bun
Spicy beef saté bo bun
Saté (sa tế) is a lemongrass-chilli oil.
Toss the beef with it at the end of cooking.
Chicken, prawns, tofu
Chicken
Boneless thigh, 4–5 min.
Prawns
15 min marinade, 1–2 min.
Tofu
Pressed firm tofu, soy sauce.
Most common mistakes
And how to avoid them.
Mushy vermicelli. Rinse cold and drain well.
Rubbery beef. Slice against the grain, small batches.
Over-salted sauce. Add fish sauce last.
No herbs. A full handful per bowl.
Mixing too early. Assemble at the last minute.
Make ahead, store, take away
Marinade, sauce and toppings can be made the day before.
Vegetables, herbs and vermicelli up to 4 hours ahead.
For a lunch box, pack sauce and nems separately.
No time? Phở 98’s beef bo bun
At Phở 98 the beef is seared to order, classic or saté, to eat in or take away. See our beef bo bun on Faubourg Montmartre.
Beef bo bun, built for you.
Come and taste it at 45 rue du Faubourg Montmartre, Paris 9e, or order it to take away.
Homemade beef bo bun, your questions
Which beef for bo bun?
Flank, rump or sirloin, sliced 2–3 mm against the grain.
Is bo bun eaten hot or cold?
Lukewarm: warm vermicelli, hot beef, fresh herbs and sauce.
Can I make bo bun without fish sauce?
Yes, use light soy sauce or a vegetarian fish sauce.
How many calories in a beef bo bun?
Roughly 500–700 kcal depending on nems and sauce.
Bo bun vs bún bò Huế?
Bo bun is a lukewarm bowl without broth; bún bò Huế is a spicy soup.
How do you mix a bo bun?
Pour the sauce and toss from the bottom up with chopsticks.
Want it ready-made in Paris 9e? See our bo bun restaurant page at Phở 98.