Vietnamese Shaking Beef (Bo Luc Lac)

By Desiree Brassert

The cuisine of my mother’s country will never cease to amaze me with it’s unlikely marriage of clean-and-crisp with depth AND simplicity– a culinary menage-a-quatre! LOL! This recipe is very easy, all you need is to concentrate on the timing since it is best served immediately.
4 servings

• 1 kilo or 2 lbs of beef tenderloin cut into 1/2 inch or 2 cubic centimeter cubes
• 8 med-sized garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup of oyster sauce
• 4 tablespoons of fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
• 3 teaspoons of sesame oil
• 4 tablespoons of brown sugar

Mix all this together and rest for 4 to 8 hours.

Salad bed

• 1 head of lettuce
• 2 tomatoes sliced in bite-sized wedges
• 1 medium sized red onion sliced into thin rings
• 1/4 cup of rice wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 1 pinch of salt

1. Marinate the onion rings in the salt, sugar, and vinegar for at least one hour.
2. Prepare a bed of lettuce and tomato wedges on a serving dish.
3. Heat 1/4 cup of cooking oil (your personal favorite is fine) in a non-stick pan or wok. Wait until it’s very hot, almost smoking, add the beef cubes, and then discard marinade. Shake the pan like the name suggests. When the beef seems cooked enough to taste (can remain a little pink in the middle but the external seared crust is the prized feature of this dish. Keep shaking…
4. Final plate The beef cubes should be set on the lettuce and tomatoes, topped with pickled red onion slices. The excess vinegar, and the oil from wok should also be poured on beef for good measure.

This dish is also served with a dipping bowl of freshly squeezed lemon juice seasoned with salt and ground black pepper. Steamed long-grained rice will complete this meal.