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Vietnamese Shaking Beef
I have very fond memories of this dish as a child. Vietnamese Shaking Beef is traditionally served with steamed rice but, unfortunately for my mother, rice was something I refused to eat as a kid (difficult situation in an Asian family!).
So whilst everyone would sit down to this dish at the table with a small bowl of rice and chopsticks, my mother would make – just for me – a small serve of homemade French fries!
It was her version of the French Steak Frites, and it was my happy place.
What is Vietnamese Shaking Beef?
Vietnamese Shaking Beef is a Vietnamese dish which consists of cubes of marinated beef which are quickly stir-fried and served on a bed of watercress.
Bo Luc Lac
This dish is called Bo Luc Lac in Vietnamese, which literally translates as “beef shaking”, and which refers to the motion of the wok or pan when you are cooking the beef.
The idea is to sear the meat in a super-hot pan so that the outside becomes caramelised and charred, but the meat still stays tender and medium-rare within.
Why This Recipe Works
- You can make this dish in less than 30 minutes!
- The beef only needs to marinate for a few minutes while you are preparing the other ingredients.
- Vietnamese Shaking Beef is typically served on a bed of watercress or other salad leaves, and served alongside sliced tomatoes and cucumbers, making it a nutritious meal all around!
How to Make Vietnamese Shaking Beef
Given that the beef is the star of this dish, I recommend using a good quality cut of meat, such as rump steak, sirloin or fillet.
Ideally, you should buy your meat from the butcher so that you can buy one large piece of meat which can be cut into large cubes, measuring roughly 2 cm or 1 inch.
Cutting the beef into large cubes will mean less risk of over-cooking the meat.
When cooking the beef, the idea is to use a large wok or frying pan on very high heat to sear the beef on all sides, so that the outside becomes caramelised and slightly charred, whilst the inside of the meat should still be medium or medium-rare (however you like your beef to be cooked).
The marinade in this bo luc lac recipe contains sugar and oyster sauce, both of which will help the meat to quickly brown.
Vietnamese Shaking Beef Recipe
Most recipes for Vietnamese Shaking Beef take less than 30 minutes to make, and my recipe is no exception.
But something my mother always did, and what I now do as well, is add a lot of freshly ground black pepper. And I mean A LOT! Chillies are not usually eaten with this dish, so if you like your food spicy, you might also want to increase the pepper to taste.
How to Serve Vietnamese Shaking Beef
Traditionally, bo luc lac is served on a bed of watercress, which is slightly bitter and peppery in taste, a bit similar to rocket or arugula.
As my children are not so fond of watercress, I like to use a mix of more common green salad leaves, but I will still mix it with watercress and/or radicchio or red endives for some bitter contrast (and in the hope that the children will, one day, get used to the more bitter salad leaves).
And as the Vietnamese are big on fresh flavours, many families will also serve Vietnamese Shaking Beef with sliced tomatoes and cucumbers on the side.
The whole dish is served with steamed rice but, as I mentioned earlier, French fries are never a bad idea 😉
Vietnamese Shaking Beef (Bo Luc Lac)
Ingredients
For the marinade
- ¼ cup oyster sauce
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper, freshly cracked
For the Shaking Beef
- 600 g (1 lb) beef fillet, rump steak or sirloin
- 1 to 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 large red onion, thickly sliced
- 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- black pepper, freshly cracked
To serve
- watercress, or other green salad leaves
- tomatoes, thickly sliced
- cucumber, thickly sliced
- Steamed Jasmine Rice
Instructions
- Place the ingredients for the marinade into a bowl which will fit the beef later.
- Lighty mix the marinade together.
- Cut the beef into large cubes, roughly 2 cm or 1 inch in size.
- Add the beef cubes to the marinade and mix to combine.
- Leave the beef to marinate while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
- Slice the onions.
- Finely chop the garlic.
- Wash and spin-dry the watercress leaves or salad leaves.
- Place the leaves onto a large plate or platter.
- Heat a large wok or non-stick frying pan with some vegetable oil on very-high heat.
- Cook the beef in batches, using tongs to turn them so that each side of the beef cubes can brown and caramelise. Or, if you are highly skilled, you can toss the beef by shaking the pan. This should take less than 1 minute per side. Try not to over-cook the meat, otherwise it will be tough and chewy. Due to the sugar content in the marinade, there will be a lot of splatter!
- Once all sides of the beef cubes are nicely caramelised, remove the meat to large plate.
- Add the onion and garlic to the pan. Cook for about 1 minute, taking care to not burn the garlic.
- Return the meat to the pan, together with any juices which have collected on the plate.
- At this point, I like to add a generous grinding of freshly ground black pepper. But you can omit this step if you don’t like spicy food or you are feeding children.
- Mix or toss everything together. A bit of sauce should start to form at the bottom of the pan.
- Place the cooked meat on top of the salad leaves, together with any pan juices. The heat from the meat will gently wilt the salad leaves.
- Serve immediately.
Kitchen Notes
- DIPPING SAUCE
In my family, we didn’t serve Vietnamese Shaking Beef with a dipping sauce, although a small bottle of soy sauce was never far away. But I have eaten this dish in some homes who serve it with a lime dipping sauce, which you can make by mixing together the juice of 1 lime (or lemon), 1 teaspoon of coarse sea salt and 2 teaspoons of freshly ground black pepper. - COOKING FOR KIDS
If you are making this dish for kids, I recommend reducing the amount of pepper in the marinade. What I often do is stir-fry a small batch of beef – minus the pepper – for the kids and then set this aside for them. For the remaining beef (for the adults), I will add a generous amount of freshly ground pepper at the end of cooking. - WHICH TYPE OF SALAD TO USE
Vietnamese Shaking Beef is traditionally served on a bed of watercress. But you could also use common green salad leaves, or a mix of salad leaves. - OVEN & STOVE TEMPERATURES
All recipes on this website have been tested on an induction stove and/or with a conventional oven (i.e. an oven without fan). All recipes on this website use temperatures for a conventional oven, unless otherwise mentioned. Convection ovens (i.e. fan-forced ovens) are typically 20°C/70°F hotter than conventional ovens, but please check your manufacturer’s handbook. - CONVERSIONS
To convert from cups to grams, and vice-versa, please see this handy Conversion Chart for Basic Ingredients.
Awesome recipe! Surprisingly easy too.
Wow great recipe! Made it tonight for my girlfriend and she thought it was better than the local restaurant.
Translation into German is Rundfleish kurze Rippen.
Delicious! Perfect served with steamed rice. I’m making it again for my parents this weekend – yum!