This recipe pairs a perfectly flakey pie crust with my all time favorite Vietnamese beef stew: bò kho. The incorporation of potatoes and a simple roux lends this stew a thicker consistency compared to the classic version, enhancing its adaptation for pie form while delivering a more satisfying bite with added depth. The rough puff pastry is adapted from Natasha Pickowicz’s book, More than Cake.
To make this dish more manageable, you can prepare the pie dough the day before. This recipe calls for gia vị bò kho, a bò kho spice mix readily found in Vietnamese supermarkets or Amazon. If you have trouble locating this, the closest thing you can use is Chinese five spice powder.
ROUGH PUFF INGREDIENTS
200 grams (1 ½ cups + 1 ½ tablespoon) all-purpose flour 280 grams (1 ¼ sticks) unsalted butter ½ teaspoon salt 50 grams (3 ½ tablespoons) cold water
Cube the butter. Mix together flour, salt, and the cubed butter. Work quickly to form a mixture with your fingertips, squishing each piece of butter. Add the ice water and continue to work into a shaggy dough. Do not overwork the dough, you want nice pea sized bits of butter. This will give your rough puff that beautiful layered flake.
Lay out two large pieces of parchment paper, and sandwich your ball of dough between it. Roll out a rough rectangle with the dough. Take one long end and fold it a third of the way towards the middle of the dough, then take the other end and press it over that middle fold. Roll out the dough into a rectangle and repeat the letter fold 2 more times. Wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rest in the fridge.
BÒ KHO
Rehydrate the Delta Lemongrass, Northern Mountain Garlic, and Sparrow Ginger in water about 1-2 minutes then drain.
Cut beef into 1 inch cubes. Marinate with lemongrass, garlic, ginger, gia vị bò kho, sugar, soy sauce, pepper, and a pinch of salt. Let the beef marinate in the dry rub for at least 1 hr in the fridge.
Make a simple and weird roux by adding flour, water, and ketchup together. Mix well! It should look like a thick aioli.
Add your oil of choice to a large pot, and cook onions until translucent. Add in the marinated beef, and sauté on medium heat until slightly seared on the edges. Add in the roux and mix well. Then add just enough water into the pot to fully submerge the meat. Do not add too much; remember we want a thicker stew that will be pie friendly. Cover the pot and bring to a low simmer for 1 hour. Then remove the lid, and adjust the stove to bring it back to a low simmer for another 30 min.
Add in your carrots and potatoes. Cook until soft, another 30 minutes.
At this point, you can taste the stew and adjust the salt level to your liking, add salt or 1-2 tsp of fish sauce.
PIE ASSEMBLY
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Ladle the stew into a deep 9” pie dish, or if you want mini pies then 8 ramekins. Let it cool while you roll out your dough.
Remove dough from the fridge and roughly roll out a 10” circle. Lay atop the bò kho pie dish, and crimp the edges with a fork. Make a few slits in the pie dough center. ***To make mini pies, use the ramekins as a guide to cut out circles with a knife that are a bit larger than the ramekin diameter.
Optional: egg wash. Whisk 1 egg and brush it over the pie crust.
Bake for 30 minutes until the crust is crisp and nicely golden.
Serve with chopped cilantro, Thai basil, and a squeeze of lime once you crack open that flakey exterior.
