Spoil your family with Bun Bo Hue Chay, the vegetarian take on a classic Vietnamese spicy noodle soup. The broth is exquisitely sweet from slow cooked vegetables and topped with a fragrant lemongrass blend that just explodes with incredible flavor!
The noodle soup to impress everyone
Let me preface the post by saying this:
You won’t find a Bun Bo Hue Chay recipe like this anywhere on the web.
Most noodle soups of this nature have the basics that one would expect – a few vegetables for the stock, a quick boil, some toppings and a few sprigs of garnish.
Not Mum’s Bun Bo Hue Chay.
The beauty of this recipe is that it’s entirely meatless and doesn’t compromise on any flavor!
The soup is LOADED with the classic Bún Bò Huế aromatics – a spicy lemongrass blend that’s pan fried until golden.
Every slurp is light, yet tastes amazingly complex with the perfect balance of sweet and savory. One sip and you’ll be blown away!
Not to mention, when you lift the rice noodles up after having been submerged in the soup, every bit of lemongrass will latch on, meaning that first mouthful – and every mouthful after – will be glorious.
Why this recipe works
- Slow cooking the stock vegetables for hours and using coconut water results in a naturally sweet stock that is second to none.
- Stir frying the aromatics adds an exciting kick of flavor. Get ready for your house to smell amazing.
- Cooking the toppings in the lemongrass blend adds dimension to every layer of this dish so no mouthful will be boring!
What you’ll need
The Vegetable Stock
About the selection
The beauty of making your own stock is that you can use whichever fruit and vegetables you have on hand. We use a large quantity for our stock to make it sweeter, but you can certainly use less or switch them out for others. Here are some alternatives:
- Apple
- Pineapple
- Jicama
- Pear
- Chinese cabbage
- Celery
- Corn
Mum also sources lion’s mane mushrooms pre-prepared and pre-seasoned from a vegetarian shop, but they can be easily replaced with another flavorful variant like the shiitake mushroom.
Stock Seasoning
About the seasoning
We get all of these vegetarian sauces and spices from our local Asian supermarket, but they can also be found in Asian vegetarian specialty stores.
The Toppings
About the produce
We use many ingredients readily available from our local Asian vegetarian grocery store. The vegetarian ham, burdock gean, vegetarian fish balls and yam were all sold in the frozen section.
You can even use vegan beef slices for it to closely resemble to the meat version of Bún Bò Huế!
If these ingredients aren’t available in your region, you can simply use mushrooms instead. Enoki, king oyster, oyster, cup, swiss brown, portobello and straw mushrooms work wonderfully in this dish!
The Lemongrass Blend
About the lemongrass blend
Adding chili is entirely optional. If you would like its flavor without the as much heat, remove the seeds first.
The Garnish
About the herbs
All the garnish can be found in Asian fresh produce markets. The herbs are often sold in bundles while the cabbage might be cut into smaller portions and wrapped in cling wrap.
The Noodles
About the noodles
Use the thick round rice noodle, often labelled as ‘rice vermicelli’ on packets. These are easily found in Asian supermarkets.
How to make this recipe
Cut the vegetables into large chunks and bring a large pot of water to boil. Put the vegetables in to simmer on high heat for 3 hours or until soft.
When the vegetables have started to soften, add the shiitake and lion’s mane mushrooms and continue to cook for the remaining 2 hours. This will give it an extra depth of flavor.
Meanwhile, chop the lemongrass and chili into 1.5 cm (0.6″) pieces and blitz them in a food processor until fine.
Add the oil to a pan on medium heat then brown the lemongrass and chili with the salt, vegan fish sauce, vegetable stock powder and honey. Transfer to a jar when done.
In the same pan, cook each topping in separate batches with 1/4 US cup of the lemongrass blend for 3 minutes each. Transfer to serving dishes when cooked.
While the stock is still simmering, cook the noodles in a pot of boiling water for 10 minutes or until al dente. Drain and run under cold water until cool then transfer to a colander to drip dry.
Tip: Stir the noodles every few minutes while cooking to prevent them from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
When the vegetables have softened enough for a chopstick to pierce right through, scoop them out along with the mushrooms and add the coconut water along with 1 US cup of the lemongrass blend, the stock cubes, ginger, cinnamon bark, fish sauce, salt and rock sugar.
Let it simmer for 20 minutes.
Thinly slice the mushrooms and transfer to a serving dish.
Heat up oil in a small pan and cook the annatto seeds on low heat for 1 minute or until it just starts to darken.
Pour the annatto seed oil into a sieve hovering over the vegetable stock and run it through broth until it no longer releases a red liquid.
Assemble your bowl with noodles, toppings, hot soup and the lemongrass blend then serve with fresh garnish and a squeeze of lime!
FAQs
You’ll get most of the flavor from your lemongrass blend, so just add more of that into your broth.
The annatto seeds are used purely for adding a red color to the broth. You can leave them out if they’re not easily available.
Tips for the tastiest broth
- Use fresh seasonal produce. Every season will have its variety of fruit and vegetables that are at their prime. Take advantage of the best ones at the time and use them for your stock.
- Cook the broth before all else. Not only does simmering for longer result in a more fragrant soup, it will also give you the chance to prepare the other ingredients while the stock is cooking in the background.
- Be generous with the lemongrass. This dish is traditionally served with a small jar of the lemongrass blend for anyone to add extra flavor to their bowl, but it doesn’t hurt to add a punch of aromatics as soon as you can!
Try these other amazing vegetarian dishes!
- Easy Lemongrass Tofu – Super simple, fragrant and quick to make, Mum’s lemongrass fried tofu is perfect for those emegency dinners!
- Buddha’s Delight (Lo Han Jai 罗汉斋) – Grandma’s famous vegetable stew that she makes only once a year. It beautifully balances sweet, salty and tangy flavors to become one of our family’s the most anticipated dish.
- Bún Riêu Chay (Vegetarian Tomato Noodle Soup) – A light and tangy broth with silky thin rice noodles that’s finished with fresh herbs and tomato-infused toppings!
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Bún Bò Huế Chay (Vegetarian Spicy Noodle Soup)
Equipment
- Food processor
Ingredients
The Vegetable Stock
- 4 kg / 8.8 lb cabbage
- 1 kg / 2.2 lb daikon
- 500 g / 1.1 lb carrot
- 400 g / 0.9 lb lion's mane mushrooms
- 2 L / 8.5 US cups coconut water
- 5 L/ 21 US cups water
The Stock Seasoning
- 9 tsp salt (or to taste)
- 25 g / 0.06 lb rock sugar (or to taste)
- 1 tbsp vegetable stock powder
- 2 1/2 tbsp vegan fish sauce
- 20 g / 0.04 lb Chinese cinnamon bark
- 40 g / 0.08 lb ginger
- 2 Bún Bò Huế Chay stock cubes
- 10 g / 0.02 lb annatto seeds
- 1/4 US cup cooking oil (for cooking the annatto seeds)
The Toppings
- shiitake mushrooms
- vegetarian fish balls
- burdock gean
- vegetarian ham
- frozen yam
The Lemongrass Blend
- 25 g / 0.06 lb lemongrass
- 70 g / 0.15 lb chili (optional)
- 1/2 US cup cooking oil
- 1 tsp vegetable stock powder
- 1 tbsp vegan fish sauce
- 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
- 1 tsp honey
The Garnish
- mint
- Thai basil
- green and purple cabbage
- bean sprouts
- lizard's tail
The Noodles
- thick rice vermicelli
Instructions
- Cut the vegetables into large chunks and bring a large pot of water to boil. Put the vegetables in to simmer on high heat for 3 hours or until soft.
- When the vegetables have started to soften, add the shiitake and lion's mane mushrooms and continue to cook for the remaining 2 hours. This will give it an extra depth of flavor.
- Meanwhile, chop the lemongrass and chili into 1.5 cm (0.6") pieces and blitz them in a food processor until fine.
- Add the oil to a pan on medium heat then brown the lemongrass and chili with the salt, vegan fish sauce, vegetable stock powder and honey. Transfer to a jar when done.
- In the same pan, cook each topping in separate batches with 1/4 US cup of the lemongrass blend for 3 minutes each. Transfer to serving dishes when cooked.
- While the stock is still simmering, cook the noodles in a pot of boiling water for 10 minutes or until al dente. Drain and run under cold water until cool then transfer to a colander to drip dry.Tip: Stir the noodles every few minutes while cooking to prevent them from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
- When the vegetables have softened enough for a chopstick to pierce right through, scoop them out along with the mushrooms and add the coconut water along with 1 US cup of the lemongrass blend, the stock cubes, ginger, cinnamon bark, fish sauce, salt and rock sugar.
- Let it simmer for 20 minutes.
- Thinly slice the mushrooms and transfer to a serving dish.
- Heat up oil in a small pan and cook the annatto seeds on low heat for 1 minute or until it just starts to darken.
- Pour the annatto seed oil into a sieve hovering over the vegetable stock and run it through broth until it no longer releases a red liquid.
- Assemble your bowl with noodles, toppings, hot soup and the lemongrass blend then serve with fresh garnish and a squeeze of lime!
Notes
- Use fresh seasonal produce. Every season will have its variety of fruit and vegetables that are at their prime. Take advantage of the best ones at the time and use them for your stock.
- Cook the broth before all else. Not only does simmering for longer result in a more fragrant soup, it will also give you the chance to prepare the other ingredients while the stock is cooking in the background.
- Be generous with the lemongrass. This dish is traditionally served with a small jar of the lemongrass blend for anyone to add extra flavor to their bowl, but it doesn't hurt to add a punch of aromatics as soon as you can!
- The beauty of making your own stock is that you can use whichever fruit and vegetables you have on hand. We use a large quantity for our stock to make it sweeter, but you can certainly use less or switch them out for others like apples, corn, pear, Chinese cabbage or celery.
- Mum also sources lion's mane mushrooms pre-prepared and pre-seasoned from a vegetarian shop, but they can be easily replaced with another flavorful variant like the shiitake mushroom.
- We get all of these vegetarian sauces and spices from our local Asian supermarket, but they can also be found in Asian vegetarian specialty stores.
- If the toppings aren't available in your region, you can simply use mushrooms instead. Enoki, king oyster, oyster, cup, swiss brown, portobello and straw mushrooms work wonderfully in this dish!
- Adding chili is entirely optional. If you would like its flavor without the as much heat, remove the seeds first.
- Use the thick round rice noodle, often labelled as 'rice vermicelli' on packets. These are easily found in Asian supermarkets.
I’ve actually never had Bun Bo Hue Chay before but after reading through this I’ll definitely give it a go! 🙂
It’s a wonderfully tasty noodle soup! I hope you like it!
OMG, this is the best Bun Bo Hue Chay! Your recipe rocks! It’s a lot of work, but we all have the time to make complicated dishes like this nowadays. 😀
Thanks, Anita! It certainly is worth all the work!
This looks mouth watering delicious, I am going to make this for dinner over the weekend.
Thanks, Stephanie! I hope you enjoy it!
This looks so yummy. I can’t wait to try this.
Thanks Beth! I hope you like it!
This looks amazing! I’m actually going to make it for Mother’s Day for my family. Mind me asking when do we put the rock sugar, Bun Bo Hue Chay cubes and all the stock seasoning in? Right before serving or during the 3 hour simmering process?
Can’t wait to make this!! Thank you ☺️
Hi, Kristina! That’s wonderful to hear! I would say put it during the 3 hour simmering process but taste it after and see if you need to adjust anything right before serving 😀 Enjoy!
This is amazing ! This is my second day raw vegan , I’m excited and motivated about this good change in my life.
That’s great to hear! Enjoy!
Hi, this looks amazing!! I bought the ingredients to attempt this. I noticed in the ingredients, you stated 25g lemongrass is needed for the lemongrass blend, but in the photos, it looked a lot more than 25g of lemongrass was used. 25g doesn’t sound much to make up 1 cup for the stock. Can you please verify? Thank-you.
Hi, Thao! When I weighed it, it ended up being 25g but you’re more than welcome to use more if you prefer that 🙂 When it’s blitzed, it stays light but fluffs up so it looks like there’s a fair bit.
This was the best that I’ve tasted!! Thank-you for the recipe and detailed explanations. It took some labour and love but it was totally worth it!!
Hi, Thao! That’s absolutely wonderful to hear! I’m glad you enjoyed it at the end – the hard work is always worth the delicious meal, hey? 😉
I would love to try, however 7 liters is quite a bit
Can I freeze it and eat it in future?
Hi, Bianca! You can certainly freeze the stock before you add the seasoning so that the flavors are more potent when you defrost the stock and add the seasoning in. Otherwise, if you freeze the seasoned stock, make sure you eat it at the earliest convenience for the most flavor. I hope this helps!