Bo Luc Lac (Vietnamese Shaking Beef)
August 10th, 2009 | Vietnamese Recipes | 38 Comments
Ravenous Couple: Cooking Up Life is one of the new blogs I discovered recently. Authored by Hong and Kim, Ravenous Couple is a chronicle of the authors’ cooking and eating adventures, with an emphasis on Vietnamese cuisine. As a Vietnamese food lover, I often refer to great blogs such as White on Rice Couple and Vietworld Kitchen for inspirations, and Ravenous Couple is a great addition to that space. Please welcome Hong and Kim as they share with us the popular Vietnamese Shaking Beef or Bo Luc Lac recipe.
Bo Luc Lac (Vietnamese Shaking Beef)
Guest Writer: Ravenous Couple
It’s been four months since we started Ravenous Couple and not much longer that we first discovered the world of blogging. Several blogs got us hooked and planted the seed, but if we were forced to single one out on a police line up, Rasa Malaysia would be the guilty one. Yes, Bee you didn’t know it then but now you do–your blog really inspired us to enthusiastically share our love of Vietnamese cuisine but to also learn about others as well.
So when Bee asked us to write a guest post on Bo luc lac (Vietnamese Shaking Beef), we were surprised and flattered–you mean us newbies? But we gladly accepted as it’s one of our favorite dishes…(get shaking beef/bo luc lac recipe after the jump)
Not completely lost in translation, the “luc lac” is merely a description for the “shaking” or tossing of the beef back and forth in the wok after it’s quickly seared. It’s a widely popular Vietnamese dish and as such, has many variations on how it’s served. Some restaurants serve it with sauteed onions, lettuce, and rice (white or tomato paste rice) while others may present it more like a steak salad served on a bed of watercress and tomatoes, topped with pickled onions. Dipping sauces might vary from a lime/salt/pepper sauce to a soy chili sauce…
Regardless of how you serve bo luc lac, it’s an easy and fantastic dish to make for a dinner for two or a party of ten. You can use any cut of steak you like such as filet or ribeye, but we prefer sirloin.
Ingredients:
Beef Marinade
1.5 lbs beef sirloin (or any cut you like) cut into 1″ cubes
2 tbs minced garlic
1.5 tbs sugar
2 tbs oyster sauce
1 tbs fish sauce
1 tbs sesame oil
1 ts thick soy sauce
Vinaigrette
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1.5 tbs sugar
1/2 tbs salt
Dipping Sauce
Juice of 1 lime
1/2 ts kosher salt
1/2 ts fresh cracked pepper
1 red onion, thinly sliced
2 bunches of watercress, long stems trimmed
2 tomatoes, thinly sliced
Cooking oil for frying
Method:
Prepare marinade by combining garlic, oyster sauce, sugar, fish sauce, thick soy sauce and sesame oil with the beef for at least half an hour, preferably 1-2 hrs.
Prepare vinaigrette by mixing rice vinegar with salt and sugar. It should be a balance of sour, salty and sweet.
Thinly slice the red onion and use about 3-4 tbs of the vinaigrette to pickle and set aside covered in fridge for about 10 minutes. Prepare bed of watercress and tomatoes in a serving platter and set aside.
Heat a large wok or pan over high heat. Add about 2 tbs cooking oil and when it begins to smoke, add an even layer of beef and allow to sear for about 2 minutes, before “shaking” to sear the opposite sides for about another 1-2 minute more to brown all the sides. Do this in batches to cook all the beef if necessary.
Transfer beef to bed of watercress and tomatoes. Drizzle another 3-4 tbs of vinaigrette over the beef and greens and top with pickled red onions. Lastly, squeeze lime juice over salt and pepper in a small ramekin.
Enjoy!
Cook’s Note:
We like our beef medium rare and test the meat by touch and sight–it will plump up slightly and be bouncy to the touch with a spatula.
Related Recipes:
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thank you again for the invite to guest post on your site!
Hong and Kim
I was almost expecting to see a shaking piece of steak on a plate :D
nags: there’s definitely some shaking involved during the cooking, but once on the plate, it didn’t have a chance since we gobbled it up really quick! :)
Hong – thanks for this marvelous post! :)
I love the name of this dish. Thanks for highlighting these wonderful cooks. I would not have found them otherwise
Wizzythestick: This is one dish that lives up to the name. :) Thank you for the kind words and visiting our site.
Wow, this looks awesome. I think this shaking beef is mostly served on a hot plate, yes, or is that black pepper steak???
Anyway, this looks great. Good site you have there.
Some places may serve it on a hotplate which adds extra sizzle to the dish. Thanks for the kind words!
I recently found Ravenous Couple too. Great blog! This dish looks great, and I love the name.
coming from you, that means alot. Thanks!
This dish is one of my favorites, especially if I want something quick, simple, yet delicious for a weeknight meal. Absolutely love the mouthwatering picture too!!!
Thanks for posting and for sharing!
Adelina, we 1000% agree with you…it can easily be incorporated into a weeknight meal without much planning.
Thanks for introducing another great blog!
Ravenous Couple, I have two questions:
1. Could you explain what the thick soy sauce is? I have seen and used light, dark and sweet soy sauces but not thick soy sauce. Sweet soy sauce tends to be quick thick so it that the one you mean?
2. What is kosher salt?
Can’t wait to shake the beef after your kind clarifications! Thanks.
Hi Sylvia: Thick soy sauce is sweeter because it’s typically has molasses/sugar to add color and heighten flavor. So you may already have it. Kosher salt has larger grains and doesn’t dissolve as fast and tends to be less salty then regular table salt–it’s widely available in the salt section. You can certainly use table salt if you like. Thank you for the questions and let us know how it goes!
Wowwwww Looking Great, I Love it
Martina: Thanks! We think it tastes great too!
Thanks for explaining the “shaking” thing. I always wondered where that term came from, I just figured it was poorly translated or something. I will give it a go when my budget allows for grass fed beef sirloin. Have you ever seen it done with tenderloin? There’s a restaurant here in Portland that does it with tenderloin. Wonder if that would work?
Tenderloin would certainly work. Because it’s cut into small cubes, any “cheaper” steak would be good.
Looks great as usual!
Thanks
Andrew
Vietnamese is my VERY favorite cuisine. In fact, Pho is my comfort food! This recipe looks and sounds outstanding–I cannot wait to give it a try.
We love and share your enthusiasm for Vietnamese cuisine. Let us know how it goes for you!
This is a recipe that was given to me nearly 15 years ago by a cook in a Vietnamese bar/lounge here in Hawaii. His name was Duc and he became a good friend. And later the “shaking beef” phenomena emerged. Seems like one in the same, it really is a traditional Vietnamese dish.
FLANK STEAK w/ GARLIC
Nate | AlohaWorld Ono Recipes
1/2 lbs. flank steak, 3/4″~ 1″ cubes
1 Tbs. oyster sauce
1 Tbs. Maggi Liquid Seasoning
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. cornstarch
5~6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
oil
lettuce, coarsely chopped large pieces
Chinese parsley, chopped
black pepper
limes
1. Put beef in bowl, add oyster sauce, Maggi, sugar & cornstarch.
2. Hand mix for a bit, marinate in refrigerator few hrs., preferably over night.
3. Heat ~1 Tbs. oil in wok over high until very hot.
4. Add beef, stir-fry to well browned & starting to caramelize, 4~5 min.
5. Add garlic slices, stir-fry another minute or so.
6. Serve over coarsely chopped lettuce, garnish w/ Chinese parsley.
7. Serve w/ dipping sauce made from ~1 tsp. black pepper & juice of 1 lime for ea. diner.
8. Wrap meat cube & some garlic slices w/ piece lettuce, dip in sauce.
wonderful and delicioussss
I’ve tried many recipes from internet as well as home cook but had not achieved the taste and texture of Bo Luc Lac (shaking beef) until this one.
Very juicy and tasty
thanks again
I was very surprised when reading some Vietnamese recipes in your blog, they are exactly the same with how we cook in our country. I was surprised because they were introduced by a foreigner, thank you for this. I’ve also tried some of the other recipes from China and Thailand. All of them were really tasty. Thanks a lot. Your site is really really wonderful :)
About the name of this dish, many people explain that “luc lac” is the description of how beefs move to and from in the pan, so they translate the word into English as “shaking”. However, they maybe don’t know that the word “luc lac” has another meaning, which is “cubes”. This is to describe the shape of the beefs, which makes this dish different from the very popular Vietnamese stir fried beef. And I think the latter is more reasonable because in Vietnamese, “luc lac” is not a verb, it’s quite ridiculous to understand it as “shaking” or “shaky”.
Just wanna share something from my knowledge :) Hope you’ll find it interesting. Looking forward to other Vietnamese recipes from you. Thanks.
Trang – thanks for your comment, this recipe is actually from a Ravenous Couple, they are Vietnamese, but other Viet recipes I made them on my own. I think I have pretty much have the fundamentals down for Viet cuisine. :)
Actually, I believe that “luc lac” is a verb meaning to shake. See the Vietnamese online dictionary definition: here It’s rather “quite ridiculous” to think of “luc lac” as cube. Look it up.
Hi Trang and Betke: Thanks for your thoughtful insights regarding bo luc lac… literal translations of Vietnamese words can be problematic but for better or for worse shaking beef is one of the most common English name that this dish goes by and so that’s why used it.
YUM! I’m making this dish tonight along with tomato paste fried rice! I don’t have watercrest but will use baby spinach instead!
I love your website and the photos are just AMAZING!! I must have spent 2 hours lastnight reading your recipes. Keep up the great cooking!!
Hi, I just found your webpage and totally loving. For this recipe, I was wondering is it ok if i substitute dark soy sauce for the thick soy sauce?
hotbanana: You sure can! sometimes dark soy sauce and thick soy sauce are used interchangeably. Let us know how it goes for you!
My mom had asked me to cook her some beef that she defrosted, so I asked her what type of flavor she wanted American or Asian? & of course she said Asian so I tried to think of something I could whip up, with no luck I resorted to the internet lol! I made this last night and my parents loved it! Thanks for sharing, it was dee-licious. I actually ran out of thick soy and sesame oil so I just used olive oil and “stir fry” sauce. I can’t wait to try it this way though!
I made this twice with two different cuts of meat (rib eye/filet). It was absolutely delicious! Great pics too.
Have prepared today. Thank you for the recipe!
Amazingly delicious!
Thank you Rasa Malaysia for posting this and to Ravenous Couple for sharing your delicious Bo Luc Lac recipe! It’s one of my favorite Vietnamese dishes, having grown up as a Vietnamese American in San Jose and while living in Los Angeles temporarily – two cities with thriving Vietnamese communities. I really appreciate how your blogs make traditional Asian cuisine so accessible to people. It’s nostalgic and empowering for me to connect to my culture and family history by being able to replicate these dishes. I look forward to reading more of both of your blogs and trying out the recipes, particularly the Vietnamese dishes.
Hi Traveling Spoon – thanks so much for your sweet comment. :)
I made this dish for lunch and it was really really good! My boyfriend and I love it ^^, Thanks so much..