Round 2 of Bò Kho. The first round was a soupy, flavorless disaster. I should have known when the recipe had only four ingredients. For Round 2, I found a new recipe that looked a little more promising with a longer ingredient list.
I worked a long time on this round. I started at noon with marinating the beef, and I ended around 4pm. I still didn’t like the flavor! The original recipe called for far more water, but I didn’t add as much because this is supposed to be stew. The use of coconut water was really interesting. My parents said that no Malaysian recipe uses coconut water, and I was hoping this would add a new flavor. It didn’t add much at all! It tasted just like water, but who knows. Maybe my taste buds are shot? I think I just don’t like fish sauce too. It’s very high in sodium and sour. It reminds me of another fish sauce in Malaysian dishes called Budu, but we only use Budu as a dipping sauce. There’s no dish that uses Budu as a flavor base.
I need to find a dish that would actually appeal to me. At least this time, the dish had flavor. That is a win.
I think the next recipe would be an Indian dish. I already have it scheduled this Wednesday.
