Sunday, May 9, 2010

Bo Luc Lac à la 'Slanted Door'

This post is my contribution to Delicious Vietnam hosted by by Anh of A food lovers’ journey and Hong and Kim the Ravenous Couple and actually this blog is going to be dedicated mostly to Vietnamese food 'with a twist' :-) as I discover and play with new and old recipes.

The recipe is adapted from chef Phan's recipe from the famous Slanted Door SF. Instead of serving the 'shaking beef' with the traditional watercress salad and salt and pepper dip, I served it on a bed of mache also known as corn salad, rapunzel, field salad, or lamb’s lettuce. I like its mild and slightly crunchy taste, and it goes superbly with the marinated red onions and chef Phan's vinaigrette sauce.

What I like best about this recipe though is that there is no need for 'oyster sauce' which is often called for in other bo luc lac recipe, yet the sugar/oil/salt marinate gives it a caramelized look and taste and the vinaigrette sauce is brilliant !



INGREDIENTS:
Serves 2-4
- 1 lb. beef tenderloin, trimmed and cut into 1" cubes
- 1.2 medium red onion sliced
- 3 scallions, cut to 1" lengths (optional)
- 1 tbsp. unsalted butter

Marinade:
- 2 tbsp. canola oil
- 1 tsp. sugar
- 2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
- a pinch Kosher / Sea salt, to taste
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

Vinaigrette:
- 1⁄4 cup rice vinegar
- 1⁄4 cup soy sauce
- 1 tbsp. fish sauce
- Juice of 2 limes or 1 Meyer lemon

Salad:
- 1 bag of mache from Trader Joe's
- 1/2 medium red onion very thinly sliced and marinated in some Japanese seasoned vinegar 15-20' before serving
- 1 persian cucumber sliced and marinated in some Japanese seasoned vinegar 15-20' before serving
- 1 medium tomato sliced


PREPARATION:

1. Toss the beef with the marinade. Cover bowl and set aside to let marinate at room temperature for 1 hour, or refrigerate overnight.

2. Dress a platter with the mache. Drain the marinated sliced red onions and sprinkle on the mache salad. Drain the marinated cucumber and place on the mache salad along with the tomatoes and set aside.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the vinaigrette. I only used 1/3 for 1lb. of beef and refrigerate the rest for another time.

4. Drain beef, pat dry with paper towels, and discard marinade. Heat 2 tbsp. oil in a flat-bottomed wok or a 12" nonstick skillet over high heat. When oil begins to smoke, add the beef cubes. Cook, flipping once, until well browned and medium rare, 3–4 minutes. Add half of the scallions and red onions and cook, stirring constantly, until wilted, 30 seconds. Add the vinaigrette (1/3) and butter; toss to combine. Spoon beef and sauce over platter of salad.

Optional Lime and Salt Dipping sauce:
In a small bowl, make a dipping sauce by whisking together the remaining sugar and pepper with the lime juice; season dipping sauce with salt and serve aside the bo luc lac.

Where to buy:

 



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3 comments:

  1. Lovely! I like your twist! A great way to introduce someone new to Vietnamese food!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Anh, Ravenous Couple and Ana !

    ReplyDelete

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