Bo Luc Lac - Shaking Beef

I make Bo Luc Lac, Shaking Beef, on a weekly basis. It's easy, quick, and healthy! Bo Luc Lac is pan seared marinaded beef cube over a bed of greens, usually watercress, with tomatoes and vinegary onions. Take a bite with a little bit of every ingredients and I guarantee you will have a taste buds explosion. The warmth of the flavorful beef, the crunchy and acidic onions, the bitterness of the watercress, and the refreshing tomatoes goes together so well. After eating this dish I always feel satisfy, happy, and refresh.
You can pretty much use any cut of meat but I always prefer a fattier cut such as rib-eye or chuck roast.  At home we don't have high heat to cook large batch of meat so I don't exactly "shake" my beef.   For best results, cook small batches at a time.  Let the meat sear on high heat and then turn on each side to make sure every part get crispy.   If you don't have access to watercress, a bag of Dole's Spring Mixed will do just fine. I like to have a dipping sauce for the tomatoes and greens. I don't know if it's a Vietnamese thing but I grew up eating tomatoes dipped in salt like it's a fruit. Try this recipe for your next dinner party, it will be a hit for all your senses!


Ingredients ( 2 serving)

Marinade for the beef:

2 lb of rib-eye steak cubed (1/2 inch)
1 tablespoon of garlic minced
1 tablespoon of minced  shallot
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon of salt
2.5 tablespoon of oyster sauce
1/2 tablespoon of mushroom seasoning
2 tablespoon of cooking oil

Dressing for every bunch of watercress:

1 tablespoon of fish sauce
1/2 tablespoon of sugar
 juice of one lime

Other:
1 large tomatoes sliced
1 sweet onion sliced thinly
2 bunch of watercress
1 lime
cooking oil
black pepper

1. Marinade the beef with 2.5 tablespoon of oyster sauce, 1 teaspoon of fish sauce, 1 teaspoon of black pepper, 1 tablespoon of brown sugar,  2 tablespoon of oil, and 1/2 tablespoon of mushroom seasoning.  Marinate for at least two hours.
2. Thinly sliced the onion and place in a bowl. Add 1/2 tablespoon of sugar and juice of one lime.  Set aside and let soak.
3. Toss watercress with dressing (for every bunch of watercress use 1 tablespoon of fish sauce, juice of one lime, 1/2 tablespoon of sugar.
4. Heat up a wok/frying pan with cooking oil on med-high heat. Add the cubed beef and sear all side of the meat. If you like to your beef to be crispy on the outside, you need to cook them in smaller batch.  If you cook them all at once the heat will not be hot enough to be crispy.  I cook the beef as if I was make medium rare steak.
5. Transfer watercress to serving plate and decorate with tomato.  Add marinated onions on top and then add sizzling beef on top of onions.
6.  Enjoy with fresh steamed rice!