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Shaking beef is a Vietnamese restaurant favorite in the Bay Area — hello, The Slanted Door —and a cinch to make at home, says Santa Cruz’s Andrea Nguyen, author of the new cookbook, “Vietnamese Food Any Day: Simple Recipes for True, Fresh Flavors” (Ten Speed Press; $25).
Nguyen’s recipe calls for well-marbled tri-tip or New York Steak cut into small cubes and seared quickly with a back and forth shaking of the skillet. She serves it over a cool salad of watercress and arugula, but any greens will work beautifully for this weeknight dish. Check out the slide show above for the step-by-step how-tos.
Andrea Nguyen’s Shaking Beef
Serves 4
Ingredients:
1½ teaspoons sugar
1½ teaspoons cornstarch
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 garlic cloves, put through a press or minced and mashed
1½ to 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon fish sauce
1½ pounds beefsteak, such as bottom sirloin (tri-tip) or New York strip, trimmed and cut
into ¾ to 1-inch cubes
1 to 2 tablespoons canola oil
Salad:
¼ cup thinly sliced red onion or shallot
1½ teaspoons sugar or honey
2 pinches fine sea salt
About 4 grinds black pepper
1½ tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
2 tablespoons water
4 cups lightly packed watercress, baby arugula or other salad greens
¼ cup fresh mint, basil or other herb leaves, torn (optional)
6 to 8 cherry tomatoes, halved (optional)
Directions:
- In a medium bowl, stir together the sugar, cornstarch, pepper, garlic, 1½ tablespoons oyster sauce, soy sauce and fish sauce. Taste and, if a saltier finish is needed, add up to 1½ teaspoons oyster sauce. Add the beef, toss to coat well and let marinate for 20 minutes at room temperature.
- To make the salad, rinse the onion in a strainer under cold running water for about 10 seconds, then set aside.
- In a large bowl (suitable for tossing the salad), whisk together the sugar, salt, pepper, vinegar and water. Add the onion, top with the watercress and add the mint and tomatoes, but don’t toss.
- Set a large skillet that can get very hot (such as carbon steel or cast iron) over high heat and add enough of the canola oil to film the bottom. When the oil is shimmering, carefully add the beef, spreading it out in one layer, and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, shaking the pan every 30 to 60 seconds to sear the beef on all sides; it should be medium-rare. (If you want to minimize mess, cover the pan with a splatter guard and flip the meat with a spatula.)
- Quickly toss the salad and transfer everything, including the dressing, to a platter or serving dish. Pile the cooked beef and its juices on top and serve immediately. At the table, ceremoniously combine all the ingredients and invite diners to dive in.
— From Andrea Nguyen’s “Vietnamese Food Any Day: Simple Recipes for True, Fresh Flavors” (Ten Speed Press, 2019)