Succulent morsels of sweet, savoury and lots of umami beef that literally melt in your mouth.  Bo Luc Lac – Shaking Beef – gets its name from the noise you make when you sear the beef in a wok.  This is an absolutely delicious dish that is so simple to prepare.  Except for the long marinating period, you can easily outdo Rachel Ray’s 30 minutes.

Chef’s tip: If you don’t want to wait overnight to get the beef marinated and truly keep this dish under 30 minutes, use an instant marinator.  The instant marinator works by removing all the air from the beef when you create a vacuum with the pump.  When you release the valve, the marinate then oozes into these empty cavities in the beef, bathing the beef with the seasonings of the marinade.

Marinade:
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 stalks lemon grass, finely 2 inches of the white portion
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons canola oil

1 1/2 lb beef tenderloin, cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes.

Dressing:
1 red onion, finely sliced
2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon mirin
1 teaspoon brown sugar
2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 bunch of watercress

Preparing the Meat:
1.    Whisk together marinade ingredients
2.    Cut meat into 1 1/2 inch cube.  Marinate meat for at least a half hour, preferably overnight.
Preparing the salad:
3.    Slice onions thinly and place in a bowl of cold water for 10 minutes.  Drain and pat dry.
4.    Toss together remaining dressing ingredient.
5.    Just before serving, toss watercress and onions with the dressing
Cooking the beef:
6.    Heat a cast iron pan or a wok on high heat.  Add oil and quickly sear the beef until it develops a brown crust.  About 2 minutes or less if you prefer your beef rare.
7.    Place hot beef on tossed watercress salad.  Drizzle in any pan juice.  Serve immediately.

Serves: 6

Tags: Vietnamese, Watercress.

Tossing in as many Vietnamese herbs I can find from the only organic Asian vegetables vendor at the farmers markets in San Francisco Bay Area – Phan Organics Farm of Elk Grove (Civic Center Farmers, SF – Wed and Sun, Berkeley- Tue, Alemany – Sat), this super light noodle salad gives lots of exploding flavors.  It’s a great introduction to the world of Vietnamese herbs.

Chef’s tips: To chiffonade herbs, stack several leaves and roll them tightly.  With a sharp knife, slice the roll finely.  Fluff the sliced herbs to separate them.

Ingredients

Meat:
1 lb ground lean chicken or pork or turkey
2 stalk lemon grass, white part only, very finely sliced
2 Tablespoons fish sauce
Juice from 1 lime
1 Tablespoon rice flour, roasted

6 oz dried  rice vermicelli

Herb:
5 Thai chilies, deseeded and chopped finely
1 cup cilantro, chiffonade
½ cup green onions, sliced thinly
½ cup rau ram, chiffonade
½ cup shiso perilla leaves, chiffonade
½ cup mint leaves, chiffonade
5 kaffir lime leaves, chiffonade
Lime zest from 2 limes

Dressing:
Juice from 1 limes
2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup fish sauce
½ teaspoon brown sugar
Cilantro or mint sprigs for garnish

Preparing the meat:
1.    Heat a non stick pan under high heat, add the ground meat, chopped lemongrass, 2 Tablespoons each of fish sauce and lime juice.  Cook 10 minutes until the meat is cooked through, while stirring constantly.  Transfer the meat to a large bowl.  Drain off excess liquids.  Cool.
2.    Dry-fry the rice flour (without any oil) under medium heat till golden brown. Add to the meat mixture.
Preparing the rice noodles:
3.    Bring a pot of salted water to boil.  Add rice noodles.  Bring back to a boil, cover, remove from heat and let noodles sit for 15 minutes in hot water.  Drain.
Preparing the herb and dressing:
4.    Slice and chiffonade the herbs.  Toss all herb ingredients together. Set aside.
5.    Mix dressing ingredients together.
Assembly:
6.    Toss the meat, noodles, herb and dressing together to combine.  Let sit for 10 minutes for the flavors to come together.
7.  Garnish with mint sprigs and cilantro.

Serves: 6

Tags: kaffir, Rau Ram, salad, Vietnamese.

This Northern Thai dish originates from Laos and is sometimes spelt “larb”.  Even tho’ it is served at room temperature, the heat from the Thai red chili will make you break a sweat.  This spicy sharpness together with the acid from the lime juice, the umami of the fish sauce, the essential oils from the mint and zest are balanced with the smokiness of the rice flour to create a flavor explosion moment.  Laab is typically served with sticky rice but I like to serve the laab on endives to make a tasty appetizer.  Using no oil in the cooking, this is as low fat as Asian foods go!

Chef’s tip: If you have the patience, pinch off the meat a little at a time as you add to the pot, instead of dunking the whole pound in all at once.  This will ensure every bit of meat surface gets browned.

Ingredients

Meat:
1 lb ground lean chicken or pork or turkey
2 Tablespoons fish sauce
2 Tablespoons lime juice

1 Tablespoon roasted rice powder (from 3 tablespoon glutinous rice)

Herb:
1 stalk lemon grass, white part only, very finely sliced
3 kaffir lime leaves, chiffonade
4 Thai chilies, deseeded and chopped finely
3 Tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 sprig green onions, sliced
3 Tablespoons mint leaves, chopped

Dressing:
Juice from 1 lime
1 Tablespoon lime zest
1 Tablespoon fish sauce
½ teaspoon brown sugar

Lettuce cups:
1 head of iceberg lettuce or 2 endives
Cilantro or mint sprigs for garnish

Preparing the meat:
1.    Heat a non stick pan under high heat, add the ground meat, 2 Tablespoons each of fish sauce and lime juice.  Cook 10 minutes until the meat is cooked through, while stirring constantly.  Transfer the meat to a large bowl.  Drain off excess liquids.
Preparing the toasted rice:
2.    Dry-fry the glutinous rice (without any oil) under medium heat till golden brown.
3.    Remove, let cool slightly and grind into a powder with a spice mill, or a mortar and pestle.  Set aside.
Preparing the herb and dressing:
4.    Slice lemongrass, kaffir, and chilies.   Zest lime.  Mince green onions, cilantro and mint.  Set aside.
5.    Mix dressing ingredients together.
Preparing the lettuce cups
6.    Remove the iceberg lettuce leaves one at a time and trim into little cups.  If using endives, leave leaves whole.  You may want to use the heart of the lettuce.
Assembly:
7.    Pour the rice powder, herb mixture and dressing into the cooked meat and toss to combine.  Let sit for 10 minutes for the flavor to come together.
8.    Scoop 2 tablespoons of the chicken into the lettuce cups and garnish with a sprig of cilantro or mint.

Serves: 6

Tags: kaffir, lemon grass, salad, Thai.