Spicy beef saté noodle soup is a cross between phở and bún bò huế. It is not as well known as the two, but requires the same bone based broth. Spicy beef saté noodle soup uses pork neck bones and a surprising ingredient of chunky peanut butter. The spiciness comes from the chili oil where you can modify the heat according to your tolerance. This is a delightfully complex yet simple noodle soup that will have you sweating and enjoying the broth at the same time. This soup is especially good on a cold day.

This recipe is rated medium and requires approximately 2 hours to make. This recipe serves approximately 6 bowls of noodle soups.

Ingredients

2 lb. of pork neck bones

1.5 lb. of beef (eye round or top round)

1 package of pho of flat rice noodles (fresh if available)

3 tablespoons of fish sauce

¼ cup ground chili in soya bean oil (There are many different brands that have different level of heat.)

½ cup of dried shrimps

3 dried squids or cuttlefish

½ cup of chunky peanut butter

1 large cucumber

3 roma tomatoes

9 star anise

1 stalk of lemongrass

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 tablespoons of sugar

1 tablespoons of rock sugar

2 tablespoons of salt

 

Garnish:

½ lb. of soybean sprouts

a few stalks of Thai basil

a few stalks of cilantro

4 stalks of scallions

4 limes

Directions

Turn the oven to broil and place 3 pieces of dried squid on a tray. Broil each side for 2 minutes and remove from the oven.

Rinse ½ cup of dried shrimps with water, drain and set aside.

Clean pork bones by boiling the bones in a pot of water for 5 minutes until the impurities (brown stuff) rise to the top. Dump out the water and rinse the pot and the bones.

In a large pot, brown 2 cloves of minced garlic in 1 tablespoon of oil. Add 16 cups of water to the pot.

Smashed 1 stalk of lemongrass and add to the pot.

Boil the bones for 1 hour under a low boil. (This is a small boil, not a full bubbling pot). Continue to add water as needed since the water will evaporate during this process. For this demonstration, we used a dutch oven with 5.5 quarts capacity.

After 1 hour, add the dried shrimps and roasted cuttlefish to the pot.

Add ¼ cup of ground chilli in soya bean oil to the pot. I suggest starting with ⅛ cup first and then increasing the amount of chili to your preference. The spiciness depends on the chili brand as well.

Add 2 tablespoons of sea salt, 2 tablespoons of sugar, 1 tablespoon of rock sugar and 9 star anise (in a tea bag). Let the broth boils on low for another 15 minutes. Continue to skim off any fat that rises to the top.

Add 3 tablespoons of fish sauce and ½ cup of chunky peanut butter.

Continue to boil the broth on low for another ½ hour to incorporate all the ingredients. The broth will look like the picture below when it is finished.

Prepare the toppings:

Remove any excess fat from the beef. Thinly slice the beef against the grain. 

Cut the tomatoes into thin wedges.

Thinly slice the cucumber on a diagonal. Make sure the slices are not too thin.

Rough chop the cilantro and scallions for garnish

Prepare the noodles according to the package instructions:

Place a package of pho noodles in a pot of boiling water. Turn off the heat and let the pho noodles cook until the noodles are soft. Drain and rinse with water.

Prepare the condiment plate:

Rinse the bean sprouts and basil. Cut the limes into large wedges.

Serve:

Place a handful of noodles into a bowl. Add a few slices of beef, tomatoes and cucumbers. Pour the boiling broth over the ingredients and garnish with cilantro and scallions.

Enjoy this spicy noodle soup with friends and family on a brisk day.

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Authors: Hung Nguyen and Chau Hoang