Let's get a little Shaky!

Last year, I went to San Francisco and had a list of places to check out. One that really stood out to me was a small Vietnamese restaurant, Bodego Bistro. I was told I had to try their shaky beef (bo luc lac). And man, am I glad I did. I've had shaky beef before, but never with filet mignon! The dish came out with a huge plate of greens and this deliciously refreshing lime/black pepper sauce.

I was doing some research as to why the dish is called shaky beef and apparently, the name comes shaking the beef in the marinade (which I really didn't do) and shaking it in a hot wok. Interesting...

So I've attempted to recreate the meal here, minus the greens! It's normally served with a side of watercress, baby bib lettuce and sliced tomatoes. I wanted to forgo the greens and I don't like tomatoes, so that was a no go! One tip, the pan should be really hot cause you want to sear the meat. And the original recipe doesn't say to leave the meat in the marinade, but I left it in the marinade for about 30 minutes and it came out great!

Ingredients:
1-1.5lb filet mignon, cubed (you can also substitute in sirloin)
6 cloves of garlic, smashed and finely chopped
1 large yellow onion, quartered
1/4 cup of fish sauce (if you've never cooked with fish sauce before, it's extremely pungent)
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 1/2 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
1/4 teaspoon of corn starch

In a big bowl, mix together the garlic, fish sauce, sugar, EVOO and oyster sauce really well. Add the filet cubes and make sure to coat really well. Cover and let the meat marinade for about 30-40 minutes.

In a wok or pan, add a little bit of oil over high heat. Once the oil gets hot, add the beef cubes and marinade mix from the bowl and sear. Cook till desired doneness and add onions. Cook 2-3 minutes until the onions are tender. Remove from heat and add in the cornstarch to thicken the sauce.

If you are using the greens and tomatoes, arrange the watercress, lettuce and tomatoes on a plate. Scoop the beef of top and enjoy with a bowl of steaming jasmine rice!

You can also serve this with a lime/black pepper dipping sauce. Just combine the juice of one lime, 1/2 of teaspoon of salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of cracked black pepper. I also had a small dish of fish sauce with sliced thai chili peppers on the side as an additional dipping sauce.