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vietnamese beef stir-fry
To go along with the stir-fried water spinach we decided to make from our farmer’s market discovery, we were looking for a complementary main dish. Since the spinach recipe was Vietnamese, why not a Vietnamese stir fry. I started looking around the Internet for a good recipe, but didn’t find just what I was looking for. Either it was way too complicated (requiring more specialized ingredients than I had easy access to) or way too inauthentic with flavors that would hardly be called Vietnamese.
So I decided to mix and match somewhat, coming up with something similar to the classic beef stir fry called bun bo xao (I think), but easy enough that I could make it with supermarket ingredients.
Ingredients:
1 pound top round or flank steak
6 oz dried vermicelli noodles
4 Tbsp peanut oil, divided
1 8-oz. can sliced bamboo shoots
1 medium onion, halved and sliced thin
1 Tbsp fish sauce
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 Tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
2 dried red pepper pods (or 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes)
Directions:
1. Put the steak in the freezer for 10-15 minutes, just until it is firm, but not frozen. The colder meat will be easuer to slice into very thin strips, against the grain. Set aside.
2. Place vermicelli in a medium bowl, cover with boiling water, and let steep for at least 30 minutes.
3. Heat 2 Tbsp oil in a wok and stir fry the beef about 1 minute so that it is still just pink. Remove from the wok and set aside.
4. Add the remaining oil plus the bamboo shoots, drained well, and onions. Stir fry for about 2 minutes. Add the fish sauce, about 1/2 tsp salt, and red pepper pods. Cook for another 5 minutes. Add garlic and fry for another minute, until it becomes fragrant.
5. Return the beef to the wok and stir fry for another minute. Add sesame seeds. Serve hot over drained vermicelli with sriracha hot sauce on the side.
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