This Vietnamese Noodle Soup Is Literally Called "LAZY NOODLES"

Did you know that there's literally a Vietnamese noodle soup called Lazy Noodles and it might be the easiest bowl you'll ever make? Guys, this noodle soup has been going viral all over social media and honestly I kind of get the hype. It's called Bun Luoi which literally translates to lazy noodles because it's made for those days when you're craving something warm, something comforting, but you don't want to slave away all day in the kitchen. There's no complicated broth, there's barely any prep, and it only requires six ingredients. The whole thing's going to come together in less than 30 minutes and you're still going to end up with a bowl of noodle soup that's super comforting, legit, and it's going to hit the spot. And since this recipe has been all over my feed lately, it's finally time to see if it lives up to the hype. So let's get into it. So you only need a handful of ingredients to make this super easy noodle soup. You can find everything at pretty much any asian or western grocery store we've got rice vermicelli noodles thinly sliced beef peeled shrimp and a few fresh aromatics like green onions cilantro and some chilies if you'd like a little heat first let's go ahead and prep our fresh aromatics slice the white parts of the green onions lengthwise into these long thin strands then finely chop the green parts just like this cutting them two different ways adds a nice bit of texture and variety to your noodle bowl when we use them as toppings later on for the cilantro all you need to do is a quick rough chop into smaller pieces next grab your peeled shrimp and give them a rough chop right on your cutting board about halfway through add some of those green onion whites chicken bouillon fish sauce and a little black pepper then just keep chopping until everything is nicely combined chopping the shrimp like this is going to give it a slightly chunky bouncy texture and helps release all of that delicious shrimp flavor right into the broth and it also distributes the seasoning throughout more so than if we left the shrimp whole next spread the shrimp mixture out onto a plate so it'll be easy to scoop it into little shrimp patties when we're ready to cook them later now we're going to do pretty much the same thing with our beef i'm using thinly sliced beef here which makes this super easy because most of the cutting has already been done for us just give it a rough chop until you get these smaller bite-sized pieces and about halfway through add some green onion whites chicken bouillon fish sauce and black pepper then keep chopping to work all those seasonings into the meat one thing i love about using thinly sliced beef is how quickly it cooks and by chopping it into these smaller pieces like this we're creating more surface area for the seasonings to cling to while making sure that the beef is going to be nice and tender as it cooks in the broth and once that's done spread the beef mixture onto a plate just like we did with the shrimp so it's ready to scoop into the broth later on i actually really love recipes like this because it really challenges the way we think about vietnamese noodle soups when we think about vietnamese noodle soups we immediately think of these big names like phở, bún bò huế or bún riêu. These really really established dishes with very specific broths, toppings and recipes. But that's just one side to Vietnamese cooking. Even now in my own kitchen, sometimes things I make don't even have a name at all. I'll open the fridge, I'll see what I have and just kind of take it from there. Maybe there's some leftover pork I need to use up, some shrimp in the freezer, some veggies that are wilting. I'll go into the pantry to see what noodle I have and for certain some noodle soup will come out of it. And honestly I think that's just as representative of Vietnamese home cooking as these big dishes that we know. Not everything we eat at home is like some secret recipe that's been passed down or some famous dish with a name. Sometimes you're just working with what you have, adjusting as you go, and seeing how it all comes together. So that's actually why I really love Bun Lui as soon as I saw it because it doesn't take itself too seriously. Sometimes I think the best bowl of food isn't always the one that you spend all day making. Sometimes it's the one that you threw together because you were tired, hungry, and just needed to clear the fridge. For the noodles, you can use pretty much any type of rice vermicelli you can find. Many western stores now carry the flat rice noodles usually used for pho, which works fine too. But if you can find these thin round strands, they're my personal favorite for this soup. Bring a pot of water to a boil, add your noodles, and cook for about seven to nine minutes, depending on their thickness. And once they're al dente, drain and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking and wash away any excess starch. Then finish with a quick rinse in warm water to loosen the strands and keep them from clumping together when we assemble our bowls. Now comes the fun part, bringing everything together. We've got our shrimp and beef ready to go, our noodles are cooked, all those fresh aromatics prepped, so all that's left to do is build our broth and turn these delicious simple ingredients into a wonderful comforting bowl of noodle soup. So I'm going to keep things super simple today and start with plain water but if you have a carton of pre-made broth sitting in your pantry, feel free to use that instead. To build some flavor, I'm adding a few heaping tablespoons of chicken bouillon and a few drizzles of fish sauce. Now remember that we've already seasoned both our shrimp and beef and they'll release even more flavor into the broth as they cook. So don't go too heavy on the seasoning just yet because we can always taste and adjust everything at the very end. This isn't really the kind of broth that you want simmering away for hours So I recommend making it right when you're ready to eat because both shrimp and beef cook pretty quickly and the last thing we want to do is overcook them. So once your broth comes to a gentle boil, grab your plate of shrimp and use a spoon to scoop little portions directly into the pot. They'll naturally hold together into these little shrimp patties as they cook, releasing all of that delicious shrimp flavor right into the broth. Then do the same with your beef mixture, gently scooping it into the broth in small portions. The beef cooks even faster, so you really don't want to leave it in for too long. We're looking for tender, juicy pieces of beef, not something that's super tough and dried out. And that's really the beauty of this soup. The broth builds its flavor as the proteins cook without needing hours and hours on the stove. Now, let's build our bowl. Start with a generous bed of those soft, silky vermicelli noodles, then pile on our tender shrimp and beef patties, followed by a generous handful of fresh green onions and cilantro. Next, ladle that piping hot, savory, umami-rich broth right over everything, letting it soak into those noodles and bringing all those beautiful flavors together. To finish, add a few of those delicate green onion strands we prepared earlier, some freshly sliced chilies for a little heat, and a generous sprinkle of crispy fried shallots. And just like that, we've got ourselves a beautiful steaming bowl of lazy noodle soup ready to dig into. All right, let's give this a try. Honestly, for something that took 30 minutes to make, this broth is actually really good. It's light and simple, but it's still really, really savory and flavorful. The shrimp flavor is really coming through. And once you get a little bit of everything, like the noodles, the shrimp, the meat and the broth, it works really well together. Is this going to taste like a bowl of pho or bun bo hue that's been simmering for hours? of course not. But that's not what it's trying to be. The perfection is in the simplicity. And also what I really love about this is that there's no specific Vietnamese or Asian ingredients that you need to go to the Asian store for. You can grab all of these items at any Western grocery store, which is perfect because we don't always want to face the Asian grocery stores, do we? So guys, if you have any easy noodle soup packs that you've been keeping in your pocket, please let me know in the comments below. Because like I've said before, I am always in the mood for noodles. That's noodles, so don't hold back on me. And as always, if you like this recipe, don't forget to like, subscribe, and I'll see you in the next video. Bye!