Vietnamese Shaking Beef (Bò Lúc Lắc) — Charles Phan-Inspired

About This Recipe

This dish is inspired by Chef Charles Phan and his signature dish at The Slanted Door — bò lúc lắc, or 'shaking beef.' The name comes from the technique: chunks of marinated tenderloin are tossed (shaken) in a screaming-hot wok with butter, garlic and onion until just seared, then served on a bed of watercress with a punchy black pepper-lime dipping sauce. It's a dish that perfectly captures Phan's philosophy: refined Vietnamese home cooking that doesn't need French technique to be sophisticated. This recipe is our take on the southern Vietnamese tradition Phan brought to American fine dining.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 600 gbeef tenderloin(cut into 3cm cubes)
• 3 tbspsoy sauce
• 1 tbspfish sauce
• 2 tbspbrown sugar
• 1 tbsprice vinegar
• 5 clovesgarlic(smashed, divided)
• 2 tbspneutral oil(for the wok)
• 30 gunsalted butter
• 1red onion(cut into wedges)
• 150 gwatercress(or peppery greens, washed)
• 1 tspfreshly cracked black pepper(abundant)
• 2limes(halved, for serving)
• 1 tspMaldon sea salt(for the dipping sauce)
• 1Thai bird chili(thinly sliced, for serving)
• 1tomato(sliced, for plating)
• 0.5cucumber(sliced, for plating)

Instructions

1. 1

   Marinate the beef

   Toss the beef cubes with the soy sauce, fish sauce, brown sugar, rice vinegar and 2 smashed garlic cloves. Marinate for 30 minutes — no longer, or the meat will get mushy.

2. 2

   Make the dipping sauce

   On each diner's small plate, place 1 lime half cut-side up, 1 teaspoon Maldon salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper and 2–3 slices of bird chili. To eat: squeeze the lime onto the salt-pepper-chili pile and dip the beef into the resulting paste.

3. 3

   Prepare the bed

   Arrange the watercress in a generous bed on a large warm platter. Tuck tomato and cucumber slices around the edges.

4. 4

   Get the wok smoking

   Heat a wok or heavy skillet over the highest heat your stove can produce. The pan must be smoking — this is the secret to good shaking beef.

   If your stove can't produce enough heat, work in 2–3 small batches rather than overcrowding.

5. 5

   Shake the beef

   Add the oil and immediately the marinated beef in a single layer (drain off marinade first). Don't move for 60 seconds to allow searing. Then ADD the butter, remaining smashed garlic and red onion wedges. Now toss/shake the wok aggressively for 60–90 seconds — keeping the beef moving — until just browned outside but still pink inside (medium-rare).

6. 6

   Plate and serve

   Pile the beef and onion straight onto the watercress bed — the residual heat will lightly wilt the greens beneath. Crack abundant black pepper over the top. Serve immediately with the dipping plates and steamed jasmine rice.

Variations

• •

  Restaurant Plating: serve over a small mound of garlic fried rice instead of watercress for a more substantial meal.

• •

  Filipino Variation (Bistek Tagalog): substitute calamansi or lemon for the lime and add bay leaves to the marinade.

Storage

Best eaten immediately. Marinated raw beef keeps 24 hours. Cooked: 2 days but the texture suffers on reheating.

Frequently Asked Questions