I’m going to be honest, I didn’t know much about Vietnamese Shaking Beef before creating this recipe other than that I’ve had it at Vietnamese restaurants before and I know the tender beef tastes delicious. The reason why I chose to create my version of this recipe is simple; I had a boneless rib eye laying around in the refrigerator and I was thinking about recipes I could make for dinner when this one came to mind. It’s a simple dish to make, but the beef is SO flavorful and with very little ingredients in my pantry that night, I knew this one would be a winner.
Now back to the facts about the recipe. Since I love doing a deep-dive of where recipes originated from and finding out the history behind certain ingredients, I decided to do a bit of research as to how the Vietnamese came up with the recipe for shaking beef, and, what the words ‘shaking beef’ actually meant. I actually found a surprising amount of history behind this dish!
For those that may not know this already, Vietnam has a lot of French influence due to the arrival of Catholic missionaries in the 17th century and the eventual colonization by France in what is now present day Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. Among other things, with the colonization came a heavy French influence in things like food and culture. During the French colonization, consumption of beef in Vietnam rose, and according to Bun Bo Bae, “cutting up the beef into cubes is not only a way to stretch a cut of meat to feed more people, it also allows you to use tougher cuts of beef, which are usually cheaper.” As such, Bò Lúc Lắc became a popular dish during this time, inspired by French cooking and often only served in restaurants as opposed to home kitchens. As to where the words ‘shaking beef’ came from?
“Lúc Lắc means to shake in Vietnamese. The dish got its name from the constant shaking of the wok that’s needed to get a nice crust on each individual steak cube.”
– vicky pham
Vietnamese Shaking Beef (Bò Lúc Lắc)
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups Short-Grain White Rice
- 1 lb Boneless Rib Eye
- 5 cloves Garlic
- 1 tsp Granulated Sugar
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
- 2 tbsp Brown Sugar
- 2 tbsp Soy Sauce
- 1 tbsp Fish Sauce
- 1 tbsp Rice Vinegar
- 2 Persian Cucumbers (or 1 English Cucumber)
- 3 Roma Tomatoes (or 6 mini tomatoes)
- 1/4 Red Onion
- 1 tsp + 2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
- 2 tsp Arrowroot Powder (or cornstarch)
- 2 cups Lettuce
Instructions
- Cook rice using a 1:1.5 ratio of rice:water.
- Meanwhile, cut beef into bite-sized cubes and place into a bowl.
- Mince 3 cloves of garlic and place into bowl with beef along with granulated sugar, salt, and pepper. Drizzle lightly with 1 tsp of vegetable oil and fold to combine. Set aside.
- Then, mince remaining 2 cloves of garlic and add to a small bowl. Add in brown sugar, soy sauce, fish sauce, and rice vinegar. Whisk to combine.
- Pour mixture over beef and let marinate for 30 minutes up to an hour.
- While the beef is marinating, slice cucumbers diagonally, thinly slice the tomatoes, and slice onions into batons. Then, rinse lettuce and pat to dry.
- Heat a large wok over high heat, add 2 tbsp vegetable oil, and sauté garlic and onions until fragrant, around 1-2 minutes.
- Add arrowroot powder into the bowl with the marinated beef and toss to coat evenly. Then, add to wok.
- Cook beef until medium rare, approximately 3-5 minutes.
- Serve the beef over a bed of lettuce, cucumbers, and tomatoes with a scoop of rice on the side.
Watch my video on how to make this recipe by clicking here.
