Saigon’s famed picnic destination has been through a lot, but it’s still the best place for barbecued beef.
Boiled beef
Though it may sound bland, boiled beef makes for an ideal appetizer at the Xuan Dao. This isn’t your English grandmother’s boiled meat. This one is cooked in pure flavor.
Makers of the dish start by creating a base broth flavored with boiled bones, black cardamom, ginger and onion.
The bubbling liquid is served with tender beef slices and diners are invited to boil them to perfection.
The meat is then rolled with fresh herbs and rice paper and dipped into a special sauce.
Fried beef skin with fresh turmeric
In Vietnam, beef skin fried with fresh turmeric is often prescribed for those suffering from a weak stomach. Whether or not this prescription works for you, the appetizer makes for a delicious accompaniment to a cold beer.
Thinly sliced beef is fried up with battered bits of turmeric, onion, celery, roasted peanut and chili.
The crisp meat slices are wrapped up in vermicelli, cucumber, bean sprouts and herbs and dunked into a flavored fish sauce. Voila!
Grilled beef
One of the joys of dining at a place like Bo To Xuan Dao is the pleasure of grilling up your own meat.
A whole cut of raw beef is placed on the table accompanied by a knife and cutting board. After cutting the meat to their liking, customers are invited to marinate the strips in a bowl of fish sauce, chili, garlic and lemon juice.
Traditionally, the meat is cut thin and thrown on the fire for a couple of minutes. To each his own.
Porridge with beef shin
Perhaps the most renowned Cu Chi District is porridge with beef shin.
The sinewy meat is partially stir-fried in flavorful spices and then simmered in coconut juice. Finally, the leg is boiled in bone broth.
Once tender and tasty, the beef is served with a rice porridge flavored with green bean, white bean, taro, cassava, green papaya and turmeric.
All of the items combine to create wonderful textures and a host of competing flavors.
The delicacy is so popular that it has spread throughout HCMC. Customers who can’t make it to Cu Chi can enjoy the delicacy in downtown Saigon.
Source: info.vn
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