One of the most common Vietnamese dishes is some form of grilled, marinated beef served on, in, or at least near some rice noodles. Just like tex-mex food in Jim Gaffigan's words (tortillas with meat, cheese, or vegetables),
bun bo xao is one such construction of beef with rice noodles and cilantro, and is on almost every Vietnamese menu other than at pho restaurants. I've made pho before, but have actually never made this dish until now. It turns out that not only is it somewhat simple, it's also incredibly delicious, and replicates the restaurant version almost identically.
I made this dish by merging a few different recipes, some coming from the very excellent book
Vietnamese Street Food, by Tracey Lister and Andreas Pohl. The key components of the dish are the lemongrass marinated beef, the raw salad components, and the seasoning sauce,
nuoc cham truyen thong.
