Shaking Beef (Vietnamese Bo Luc Lac)

[guppymo]

My home-made version of shaking beef

[Jason Perlow]

For the uninitiated, what is the dish all about? I don't think I've ever had it.

[guppymo]

For the uninitiated, what is the dish all about? I don't think I've ever had it.

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Jason,

It's a French-influenced Vietnamese dish I think, basically it's beef cooked in short amount of time at extremely high temperature. Most of the styles called for some or all of the following ingredients: soy sauce, oyster sauce, fish sauce, black pepper, garlic, shallot.

I like to eat this either with rice or French baguette

[PCL]

It's the perfect fast beef food, next to burgers.

Do you marinade?

We don't use oyster sauce (my wife is Vietnamese).

The dipping sauce is either standard nuoc mam with lime juice, chilli, garlic and sugar, and water to thin it out, or... Maggi seasoning, chilli, garlic, or... Sriracha...

Eaten with rice, broken rice if we've got it, salad, sweet basil, mint leaves, and a fried egg...

Which cut of beef do you use? Flank is great, as is rump or even rib-eye.

[guppymo]

Yeah, I sometimes use mixed fish sauce for dippin sauce too. But I love to use lime juice + salt + black pepper to dip the beef in.

Rib-eye steak for the cut

[dorachadas]

Last spring/summer there was a piece in the NYTimes food section about the Slanted Door (Vietnamese place in SF), chef Charles Phan and his version of Shaking Beef.

I've never been, but I made the recipe to spec - it was quite tasty - the main differences from what you've pictured above are that he uses filet (I would probably opt for flank or ribeye next time) and served it over watercress instead of lettuce.

I thought the bite from the watercress was good against the richness of the beef.

The meat was marinated briefly and there wasn't any dipping/serving sauce aside from the significant amount of juice left in the pan (vinegar, soy sauce, onions, garlic and some butter) - served with limes and the s/p mixture.

[Fernwood]

I think guppymo's greens look like watercress.

Is watercress popular in vietnamese cuisine, or is it a sub for some other green I've never heard of and won't find at my market? I really like it but don't think to use it very often.

Fern

[dorachadas]

You're right - that does look like watercress...don't know why i thought it was lettuce.

I don't think to use it much either, partially due to the fact that it's really hit or miss on whether my market will have it on any given day.

[guppymo]

Watercress are available at any given days in 88's and Vietnamese markets in Boston. I frequently use them in my vegetable soup (canh rau) and salad. Its' perfect with seafood hot pot (Lau Thai Lan)

Picture of seafood hot pot with watercress

[FoodMan]

Since guppymo says this dish is French influenced and apparently it is cooked real fast. Could the name "Shaking Beef" be a rough translation of "beef saute"? Since the beef is shaken while being quickly cooked ie sauteed. Just curious....

I've never had it but it does sound delicious and looks excellent as well. I have to try it some time.

[Toliver]

guppymo,

Maybe you should be posting these dishes in the "Dinner!" thread. Or perhaps start an umbrella topic "Vietnamese dishes" (if there isn't one already).

[therese]

Since guppymo says this dish is French influenced and apparently it is cooked real fast. Could the name "Shaking Beef" be a rough translation of "beef saute"? Since the beef is shaken while being quickly cooked ie sauteed. Just curious....

I've never had it but it does sound delicious and looks excellent as well. I have to try it some time.

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Well, the boeuf part seems to be---"bo" sounds a whole lot like "boeuf" when you pronounce it so that it rhymes with "pho" (which I've heard is related to "feu", as in "pot au feu").

Upmarket Vietnamese places here in Atlanta (Nam and RiceSticks) make this dish with premium cuts, Nam going so far as to offer a Kobe beef version.

[guppymo]

guppymo,

Maybe you should be posting these dishes in the "Dinner!" thread.  Or perhaps start an umbrella topic "Vietnamese dishes" (if there isn't one already).

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Okie, I will check and see. Thanks.

[carswell]

Here's a recipe for the Slanted Door's version. Very tasty.