Do you ever make a meal you’re so wild crazy about that you polish it all off regardless of how many servings it’s supposed to be? Well, that happened when I made Shaking Beef – Bò Lúc Lắc not too long ago. In my defense my son was over, so he helped out a lot with the eating. But still, we just couldn’t leave it be!

Shaking Beef – Bò Lúc Lắc

It was my baby Sis who called me up raving about Shaking Beef – Bò Lúc Lắc, and I’m so glad she did. I’m not usually into big beefy dinners as a rule. It’s not that I don’t love a little beef now and then, but I do love my veggies, too. Shaking Beef – Bò Lúc Lắc has it all. Actually, it’s so healthy that I wasn’t too heartbroken at the amount of food I ate, lol!

About Shaking Beef – Bò Lúc Lắc:

This is a gorgeous dinner and one that is restaurant-quality. There are several components but each one is pretty simple and the meal itself is quick to prepare and cook.

The star of the show here is the beef – cubes of beautifully cooked, slightly seared, tender beef, simply marinated with flavor for days. This is heavy on the pepper, too, which just goes hand in hand with beef, and Shaking Beef – Bò Lúc Lắc is served up with a gorgeous salad. Now usually that salad is based on Watercress, but I just made mine with Spring Greens – watercress is hard to come by, and if I do ever see it, it’s terribly expensive.

That salad itself is super tasty with a crazy good vinaigrette that also serves as a marinade for red onions, sliced wafer-thin to strew across the beef. It doesn’t hurt a bit that the salad has some of my favorite veggies, tomatoes, and cucumber. They are simple everyday veggies but they’re absolutely transformed by that marvelous vinaigrette.

What almost steals the show, though, whether you’re having Shaking Beef – Bò Lúc Lắc at a restaurant or at home, is the condiments. It’s typically served with salt, freshly cracked black pepper and lime. The idea is to mix your salt, pepper, and lime, as you wish, then pick up or spear a piece of that lovely beef and dip it. Just think of those bright, fresh flavors zinging all over the place with each bite. Is it no wonder that two of us pretty much polished off the whole platter. Oink oink!!

Shaking Beef – Bò Lúc Lắc

Making Shaking Beef – Bò Lúc Lắc:

There’s not too much to making Shaking Beef – Bò Lúc Lắc, but there are four different components. Honestly, except for the beef, the dinner is mostly just assembly. There’s the salad, the vinaigrette with the red onions, the little condiment of salt, pepper, and lime and of course the beef.

You’ll want to start with the beef first because it’s best if it sits in the easy marinade for about 30 minutes before it’s cooked. Make the vinaigrette next, because it’s best if it sits for a bit, too. The salad’s a no-brainer – but the cucumbers and tomatoes should be sliced thinly and for that matter, so should the red onion for the vinaigrette. If you have a mandoline, use it here!

I like that most of these ingredients are available almost everywhere – I’ve even seen oyster sauce in my small hometown in Iowa. What might be a bit trickier is the dark soy. If you only have plain old soy sauce, just use a little extra sugar. And if you don’t have rice vinegar, just use apple cider and add a touch more water or just a touch more sugar if you think the dressing is sharp. And don’t be afraid of that bit of fish sauce – it adds that umami flavor and a little salt and fish sauce is basically fermented so it  keeps forever in the fridge.

The vinaigrette with red onion along with salt & pepper and lime

Saving Money on Shaking Beef – Bò Lúc Lắc:

You have a lot of options as far as the beef. I’ve seen recipes for Shaking Beef that used rib eye or even filet mignon, sirloin would be great and I just used top sirloin. It’s a cut that goes on sale regularly, won’t break the bank, and has big beefy flavor. Since Shaking Beef should be cooked to just medium-rare, even a cut like the top sirloin stays tender. Cook it longer if medium-rare doesn’t do it for you, but keep in mind that the pricier cuts are usually a little more tender if that’s the case. If you cook some of the least expensive cuts to medium or more well done, they can turn dry and chewy in a heartbeat.

As far as the condiments go, if you have an Asian market nearby, don’t hesitate to stop in. The prices will probably amaze you. I do cook a lot of Asian and Asian-style dishes and I like to stock up on Asian condiments at the regular old grocery before the Lunar New Year when they are often on sale and often not advertised.

Check out Aldi or Lidl, if you have one nearby, for the veggies. They always have a great spring mix, which can be a little pricier at the regular store. I can’t say enough about either store; they are great for picking up basics at great prices it can be surprising to see some of their gourmet and specialty items.

Well guys, as you can see, I just cannot say enough good about this recipe. I hope you’ll give it a go and of course, hope you’ll enjoy it as much as we have. Just a note, I did some corretions and added new photos in February 2024.

 As always, thanks for stopping by!

Mollie

Shaking Beef – Bò Lúc Lắc

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• Author: mollie kirby
• Prep Time: 30 minutes
• Cook Time: 5 minutes
• Total Time: 35 to 45 minutes
• Yield: 4 servings 1x
• Category: Beef Main Dish
• Cuisine: Vietnamese

Ingredients

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There are 4 parts to this dish:

• Prepare the beef first as it needs to marinate for 30 minutes before cooking.
• The is vinaigrette is next because it’s better if it sits for a while.
• A mandolin is handy to thinly slice the red onion for the vinaigrette as well as the cucumber and tomato for the salad.
• The last part is preparing individual dishes of salt and pepper with a lime wedge in each for serving.

Beef:

• 1 1/4 pound sirloin or another steak of choice. Make sure it’s at least an inch thick. Trim and cut into 1” cubes
• 4 to five large cloves garlic, peeled, smashed, and minced
• 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
• 2 tablespoons dark soy (substitute soy if dark soy is not available but add an extra teaspoon of sugar)
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 1 teaspoon sugar or brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
• 2 to 3 tablespoons cooking oil, divided
• fresh cilantro, for garnish, optional
• white rice, cooked, for serving

Vinaigrette:

• 1/2 red onion, very thinly sliced
• 4 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon water
• 1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Salad:

• 2 bunches watercress (substitute lettuce of choice)
• 2 to 3 medium-sized tomatoes, sliced or in wedges
• 1/2 cucumber, sliced

For Dipping:

• 1 to 2 limes (depending on size)
• 4 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons freshly cracked black pepper

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Instructions

Beef:

In a large bowl, combine the beef, garlic, oyster sauce, dark soy, fish sauce, brown sugar, and black pepper. Toss to combine. Let marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Preheat a large wok or cast-iron skillet over high heat, then add the oil. When the oil is shimmering, swirl the oil around and working in batches, add half the beef, searing on all sides. Shake and move the pan on all sides until the meat is slightly charred and medium-rare, 3-5 minutes. (Feel free to use tongs to turn and arrange beef as necessary.) Set the meat aside on a plate, tented to keep warm, and repeat with remaining beef.

Vinaigrette:

In a small bowl, mix together the rice vinegar, sugar, soy sauce, water, black pepper, and salt. Add red onion and set aside to marinate.

Salad:

Place the watercress or lettuce on a platter, leaving space for the beef to be piled in the center. Arrange the cucumbers and tomatoes around the outside edges. Strew the red onion from the vinaigrette across the top of the beef and use a spoon to distribute some of the vinaigrette over the beef and on the salad ingredients.  Pass the rest of the vinaigrette.

For Dipping:

Divide the salt and pepper into 4 small dishes or serving spoons. Garnish with a wedge or two of lime.

To Finish/Serve:

Garnish with cilantro if desired. Serve with white rice.

 

I’ll be sharing Shaking Beef – Bò Lúc Lắc at Fiesta Friday #275. Our co-hosts this week are Jhuls @ The Not So Creative Cook and Laurena @ Life Diet Health.