Vietnamese Shaking Beef (Bò Lúc Lắc)

Ingrédients

1½ pounds beef sirloin tips or tri-tip, trimmed, patted dry, cut into 1½-inch pieces

3 tablespoons soy sauce, divided

Kosher salt and ground black pepper

5 tablespoons lime juice, divided, plus lime wedges, to serve

3 tablespoons fish sauce

2 tablespoons white sugar

2 tablespoons grapeseed or other neutral oil, divided

8 medium garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 small red onion, sliced ¼ inch thick

1 bunch watercress, stemmed

Instructions

In a medium bowl, combine the beef, 2 tablespoons soy sauce and ½ teaspoon pepper. Toss and set aside. In a small bowl, stir together 4 tablespoons of the lime juice, the fish sauce, sugar and remaining 1 tablespoon soy sauce.

In a 12-inch skillet over medium-high, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil until barely smoking. Swirl to coat the pan, then add the beef in a single layer. Cook without stirring until well browned, about 1½ minutes. Flip each piece and cook until the second sides are well browned, about another 1½ minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl.

To the same skillet, add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil, the garlic and 1 teaspoon pepper. Cook over low, stirring constantly, until fragrant and the garlic is no longer raw, about 30 seconds. Pour in the lime juice mixture and any accumulated meat juices, increase to medium-high and cook, stirring constantly, until the liquid is syrupy and a spoon leaves a trail when dragged across the skillet, 2 to 4 minutes.

Add the beef and cook, stirring and scraping up any browned bits, until the sauce clings lightly to the meat, about 2 minutes. Add the onion and stir until slightly softened, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat.

In a medium bowl, toss the watercress with the remaining 1 tablespoon lime juice and ½ teaspoon salt. Make a bed of the watercress on a serving platter. Top with the beef mixture and its juices. Serve with lime wedges.

Notes

Don’t cut the beef into pieces smaller than 1½ inches or they may overcook. And don’t forget the lime wedges for serving. A squeeze of fresh lime juice brightens the other flavors.

The name of this Vietnamese dish refers to the way cooks shake the pan while the beef cooks. Though we were inspired by the flavors of the traditional dish, we preferred to minimize the meat’s movement so the pieces achieve a nice dark, flavor-building sear. Sirloin tips (also called flap meat) or tri-tip are excellent cuts for this recipe—both are meaty, tender and reasonably priced (many recipes for shaking beef call for pricier beef tenderloin). If you can find baby watercress, use a 4-ounce container in place of the regular watercress; baby cress has a particularly peppery bite that pairs well with the beef. Serve with steamed jasmine rice.