Vietnamese Beef Stew with Green Peppercorns (Bo Ham Tieu Xanh)

Disclosure: Delightful Plate is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. We only recommend products we use and trust.

Vietnamese Beef Stew with Green Peppercorns (“Bo Ham Tieu Xanh“) features tender beef cubes in a flavorful sauce with mild heat and zestiness from fresh green peppercorns. It also often includes potatoes and carrots, and is served with crusty bread to soak up the yummy sauce.

a pot of Vietnamese beef stew with potatoes, carrots and green peppercorns

There are quite a lot of ways to make beef stew in Vietnam. If you are somewhat serious about Vietnamese cuisine, you probably have heard of “bo kho“, a Southern Vietnamese beef stew dish. Bรฒ hแบงm tiรชu xanh is a different Southern Vietnamese beef stew dish, which I sometimes enjoy even more than bรฒ kho.ย 

What is Green Peppercorn (“tieu xanh“)

Green peppercorns are unripe peppercorns. Though they are milder than black peppercorns, the green counterparts are more flavorful and fresher with fruitiness and zestiness. 

Green peppercorns

Fresh green peppercorns can be kept in the refrigerator for several weeks. They will slowly get darker, losing the beautiful green color. 

As far as I know, it is not very common to see green peppercorns in Northern cuisine. They are usually used in Southern dishes both for their flavors as well as their aesthetic appeal.

Main Ingredients

To make bo ham tieu xanh, the main ingredients you will need are:

  • cubed beef: my favorite cut of beef for stew is beef shank. If you cannot find this cut, beef chuck also works.
  • fresh green peppercorns
  • potatoes and carrots
  • aromatics and seasonings you may already have such as garlic, shallots, bay leaves, onion and salt.

Savory Southern Vietnamese dishes often have some sweetness from added sugar, the level of which is sometimes pretty pronounced. For bo ham tieu xanh, I braise the beef in coconut juice to add natural sweetness to the dish (just like in my thit kho tau recipe), and avoid the need to use refined sugar.

a full ladle of beef stew with tender beef cubes, potatoes and carrots in a flavorful sauce

An Easy Beef Stew To Make A Large Batch

This dish is very easy to make at home, and you can cook a large batch to enjoy over a couple days. I cook mine on the stovetop in a Staub cocotte. An enameled Dutch oven is also excellent.

The cooking steps are quite straightforward. Make sure you sear the beef cubes first until browned. Then sautรฉ the aromatics, add the beef back along with green peppercorns and other ingredients. Braise until the beef is tender to your liking.

After being simmered, the fresh peppercorns will burst and lose their green color. You can add some uncooked green peppercorns to serving bowls for garnishing. It’s best to serve this Vietnamese beef stew with banh mi (or baguettes and other crusty bread) to soak up the flavorful sauce.

Serving Vietnamese beef stew with green peppercorns with a slice of baguette

I’m quite sure you can also cook this dish in a slow cooker or pressure cooker (such as an Instant Pot) though I haven’t tried it out for myself yet. My guess is it may take 3-4 hours on High in a slow cooker or 30 minutes in a pressure cooker. If you try these two methods, I’d love to hear how it works for you.

Vietnamese Beef Stew with Green Peppercorns (Bo Ham Tieu Xanh)

Vietnamese beef stew with green peppercorns ("Bo Ham Tieu Xanh") features tender beef cubes, potatoes and carrots in a flavorful sauce with mild heat and zestiness from fresh green peppercorns. Serve it with crusty bread for a comforting meal.
Author: Sophie Pham
5 from 1 vote
Prep: 20 minutes
Cook: 1 hour 40 minutes
Total: 2 hours
Servings: 4 people

Ingredients
 

For the beef

  • 1.5 lb beef cubes, about 1.5-inch thick (see Notes for choosing beef cuts)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil (and more for cooking)
  • black pepper

Other ingredients

  • 1 small onion, cut into wedges (about 1/2-2/3 cup)
  • 3 shallots, thinly sliced
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 oz green peppercorns
  • 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 teaspoon tomato paste
  • 2 cups fresh coconut juice
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt (or more to taste)
  • 1 lb potatoes, peeled and cubed
  • 2 carrots, peeled and rolled-cut

Instructions
 

  • Cut beef into 1.5-inch thick cubes and mix with 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon soy sauce, 1 teaspoon olive oil and black pepper. Set aside. If you have time, you can marinate for 1-2 hours for tastier results.
  • Cut onion into wedges, slice shallots and mince garlic. Also use a pestle and mortar to slighly crack 1 teaspoon of green peppercorns (or roughly chop with a knife).
  • In a heavy-bottomed pot over medium to medium-high heat, add olive oil. Once the oil is hot, add beef cubes and sear until brown. Transfer to a bowl.
  • Lower heat to medium. Add onion wedges to the pot and sautรฉ until onion is fragrant. Add shallots, garlic and cracked green peppercorns and sautรฉ briefly until fragrant.
  • Add beef cubes back together with 2 teaspoons of flour, stir well. Then add tomato paste and also stir well.
  • Add coconut juice and water and once it starts to boil, reduce heat to a gentle simmer. Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt and bay leaves. With the lid slightly askew (to leave a small space between the lid and the rim of the pot), gently simmer until beef is almost tender to your liking. I simmer mine for about 70-80 minutes.
  • Add carrots and potatoes to the pot and cook until beef, potatoes and carrots are tender to your liking (which is about 20 minutes for me).
  • Taste and adjust seasoning to your taste. You may also adjust the consistency of the sauce with additional water (to thin it out) or flour (to thicken it).
  • Transfer to serving bowls and garnish with some fresh uncooked green peppercorns (optional). Serve hot with banh mi or your favorite crusty bread.

Notes

My favorite cut to make beef stew is beef shank. If you cannot find it, you can use beef chuck.
If you want the sauce to look slightly red as in my photos, you will need a teaspoon of annatto seeds. Heat oil over medium heat and sautรฉ the annatto seeds in oil briefly until the oil looks red. Discard the seeds and then use the oil to sear the beef cubes. This step is optional and purely for aesthetic look. It has no impact on the flavor of the dish. Annatto seeds can be found at Asian grocery stores or on Amazon.
At the end, if you like the sauce to be thicker, dissolve some flour (or cornstarch) in water and use it to thicken the sauce.

Nutrition

Calories: 384kcal | Carbohydrates: 30g | Protein: 43g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 105mg | Sodium: 1115mg | Potassium: 1569mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 5112IU | Vitamin C: 22mg | Calcium: 123mg | Iron: 8mg
Course: Main Dish
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Tried this recipe?Comment & Rate below or Tag @delightfulplate on Instagram
Liked our videos?Subscribe to our Youtube channel and cook along with us

โญ๏ธ Iโ€™d love to hear what you think about the dish, so please feel free to leave a comment and a rating if you have tried it. New recipes are added every week so letโ€™s connect onย Facebook,ย Youtube,ย Pinterestย andย Instagramย for the latest updates.ย You can find my collection ofย Vietnamese recipesย here.

Similar Posts

2 Comments

5 from 1 vote

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating