Shaking Beef BO LUC LAC

What kind of image do you have of ethnic food? Do you have an image of ethnic food as something like “pak choi”, “fish sauce”, “sour” or “spicy”?

Today I would like to introduce you to Bo Luc Lac, a Vietnamese/Cambodian beef stir-fry. It is very easy for Japanese people to eat, and it is a main dish, so it is perfect for those who like to have ethnic food today. (That’s me.)

The first time I ate this dish was when I made it myself. At that time, my roommate asked me if I wanted shaking beef, and I thought, “What the heck is that? It tasted okay, okay, okay…sort of.

After that, I made it a few times, and when I went on a trip to Cambodia alone in 2018, I had my first taste of real shaking beef. I woke up at 4 a.m. to go see the sunrise at Angkor Wat, and after a sleepy and hungry tour, my guide took me to a restaurant with “tourist prices”.

While the other members of the tour (8 out of 10 were from Europe) were pointing out names of dishes that they couldn’t even imagine the taste of, I asked for “shaking beef with fries” because I was determined not to make a mistake since I was paying for it.

The result was delicious! Unlike the ones I used to make in Japan, this one was crispy with black pepper and tasted (literally) eye-opening. The french fries, which are probably for tourists, go great with it! And a good Coke too, happiness! Some of the tour members beside me looked as if they were at the end of the world, while others were trying their best to eat their way through and retire… I ate it all up with a big smile on my face.

I recreated the excitement I felt at that time with this recipe. As you can see, I put in a crazy amount of black pepper. As you can see, I add an unusual amount of black pepper…actually, I add this recipe plus at least 1 teaspoon.

Shaking Beef BO LUC LAC

Recipe by AKO's CookBook

Servings

2

servings

Cooking time

30

minutes

Ingredients

• 200-300 grams of beef steak (lean meat from the US or Australia)

• 1/2 of an onion

• 1 tablespoon flour

• 1 tbsp soy sauce

• 1 clove garlic or 3 tsp garlic powder

• 10ml + 30ml cooking sake

• 1 tbsp oyster sauce

• 1 teaspoon fish sauce

• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar　

• 1 tbsp + 1 tbsp black pepper

• 2 tsp brown sugar

Directions

• Cut the steak into bite-sized pieces. You can use a square like a dice or a rectangle (think of cutting a block of bacon lengthwise). Sprinkle with 10 ml cooking wine, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, and 1 tablespoons black pepper. Sprinkle another tablespoon of flour on top, toss to coat, and let sit for 10 minutes (at room temperature).
• Heat a frying pan with salad oil over high heat and fry the beef. When the beef is cooked through (it can still be red), add the finely sliced onion and 2 teaspoons of garlic powder.
• When the onions start to soften, lower the heat to medium and add brown sugar, 30ml of cooking sake, apple cider vinegar, soy sauce, and oyster sauce.
• When the beef is cooked to your liking, lower the heat to low and add 1 tablespoons of black pepper and fish sauce, mix well and you are done.
• As you can see in the picture, you can add green vegetables as you like. (The photo shows turnip leaves.)