Our Recipes - Beef
Bo La Lot
Vietnamese Grilled Beef in Lot Leaves
Bo Nuong La Lot is a Southern Vietnamese dish of marinated ground beef wrapped in a Lot leaves then charcoal grilled.
The wrapped beef can either be served in a rice noodle bowl with chopped lettuce, assorted Vietnamese herbs, roasted peanuts, and a sweet and savory dipping sauce on the side. It can be served with rice paper for a self - assembly style.
For the more adventurous, serve with a fermented dipping sauce instead, which is my absolute sauce for this.
WHAT IS LOT LEAVES?
A lolot leaf is about the size of your hand. It's heart-shaped with a shiny/glossy side and a matte side. When stuffing it with fillings, put the filling on the matte side so that the glossy side faces outward for a beautiful presentation. Once cooked, it has a slightly herbal and minty flavor.
DON'T MISUNDERSTAND LOT LEAVE IS BETEL LEAVE
Ingredients
1/2 kg ground fatty beef
* 2 tablespoons finely minced shallots
* 2 tablespoons finely minced lemongrass
* 1 teaspoon finely minced garlic
* 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
* 2 teaspoons sugar / honey
* 1 spoon fish sauce
* 1 spoon oyster sauce
* 1/2 teaspoon chicken bouillon powder
* 2 tablespoons sesame oil
* 50 Lot leaves
PREPARATION
1. Rinse the leaves thoroughly and pat dry with paper towels. Leave a small piece of stem intact to secure the rolls. Alternatively, use a toothpick for each roll or long skewers to secure a bunch at a time.
2. In a large bowl, mix together ground beef with shallots, garlic, black pepper, honey, lemongrass, fish sauce, oyster sauce, chicken powder.
3. Lay leaf flat with glossy side face down and narrow end with bottom. Put about 1 tablespoon of filling in the center of the leave, more or less depending on the size of the leaf. Fold the narrow end over the filling, then carefully roll up. Pierce the stem into the roll to prevent it from unraveling. If the stem is too flimsy, pierce a hole in the roll with a small knife then insert the stem. Lay roll flat with stem - side down. Repeat the process with the remaining leaves and beef mixture.
4. Grill the rolls to get a smokey flavor or pan fry with a bit of vegetable oil for about 2 minutes per side.
5. Serve the rolls in a bowl with thin rice noodle, chopped lettuce, assorted Vietnamese herbs, and topped with roasted peanuts and a Vietnamese fish sauce dipping sauce. For the more adventurous, servie with an alternative Vietnamese fermented anchovy dipping sauce. You can also serve the rolls with rice paper on the side for a more self-assembly dish.
HOW TO MAKE DIPPING FISH SAUCE
Use a mortar and pestle to crush the combination of 2 tablespoons sugar, 4 cloves of garlic, 1 large chilli to paste.
squeeze a piece of lime, mix well then add 2 tablespoons fish sauce, 4 tablespoons water. Adjust to your taste.
Enjoy!
INGREDIENT 200 gram of sliced beef 1 Stalk of lemongrass finely chopped 2 glove of garlic finely chopped 1 spoon of roasted sesame seed 2 spoon of honey, 1 spoon of oyster sauce, 1 spoon of soya sauce 1/2 spoon of sesame oil, 1/2 spoon of chili sauce Mix all ingredients with beef and marinate about 1/2 hour then spread in a large plate. Cooking Add some butter in a sizzle plate on a portable stove. When the butter melts, slowly add marinated beef and toss the beef occasionally till the beef is cooked, get out and serve with steamed rice.
Ingredients
- 200 gram of sliced fillet beef
- Half of onion
- 100 gram of fresh mushroom
- Half of capsicum (green pepper)
- 2 spoons of vegetable cooking oil
- 1 spoon of oyster sauce
- 1 spoon of soya sauce
- 1 tea spoon of chili sauce
- Half tea spoon of black pepper
- Some coriander and spring onion for garnishing
- Half tea spoon of salt
- Half tea spoon of sugar
- 2 cloves of garlic
Preparation
- Marinate beef with ¼ tea spoon of black pepper, ¼ tea spoon of salt and 1 spoon of oil for 10 – 15 minutes.
- Cut length side onion capsicum into 1cm thick
- Remove the roots of mushroom and clean them
- Thinly slice coriander and spring onion
- Smash garlic
Cooking
- Add a spoon of vegetable oil to the wok/cooking pan on a low fire then put smashed garlic in, stir –fry till garlic turn golden brown and have a good smell, now give the marinate beef in and stir-fry occasionally for 3 minutes then add mushroom, onion, capsicum keep stir - fry another 3 minutes then season with oyster sauce, soya sauce, chili sauce, salt and sugar.
- Mix all up and try to taste till you love it.
- Get it out and serve on a large plate, sprinkle sliced spring onion/coriander and some black pepper.
- Serve with steamed rice!
STIR – FRIED WATER SPINACH WITH GARLIC
(and beef)
Water spinach is native to southeast Asia, and is considered poor man’s food in Vietnam because it grows plentifully in swamps and named in Vietnamese as Rau muong. Rau muong is readily available in Asian grocery stores, quite inexpensive, and cooks in minutes. The hardest part is taking the time to pluck the hollowed stews into sections.
Preparation
(Serve 2 portion)
1/2kg of water spinach
Just remove the bottom few inches of stem, where it can tend to be woody. Wash and set aside.
Mashed garlic (Mashed garlic gives more flavor than minced one).
200 gram of sliced beef
Marinate the beef with ½ tea spoon of salt and ¼ tea spoon of black peper.
Cooking
Heat vegetable oil in a wok or sauté pan, add garlic. When the garlic has a good smell and turns yellow-brown, add Rau muong and toss. Rau muong should only take a few minutes to just wilt and will reduce greatly in volume.
Heat another wok or sauté pan with a spoon of vegetable oil, add one glove of mashed garlic till garlic turns yellow-brown. Add the marinated beef and stir-fry about 2 minutes, just turn the beef into brown.
Pour the cooked beef over the finished spinach then serve with steamed rice