Bo Luc Lac (Vietnamese Shaken Beef)

Bò lúc lắc, or Vietnamese shaken beef, is the stuff of quick-and-easy culinary heaven. It is so accessible and beginner-friendly that it’s almost surprising how flavorful and darn delicious the end result is.

You literally cut some meat, add a quick marinade, cut some veggies, shake it all up in a wok. And voila – you’ve got yourself perfectly charred chunks of juicy, flavorful beef that the whole family can share.

And don’t even get me started on that satisfying sizzle as you sear. It’s one of the most gratifying parts of making bo luc lac. You’ll see what I mean.

What is Bo Luc Lac?

Bò is beef and lúc lắc is to shake. And it’s a straightforward description of how this dish is cooked. You shake the beef in a very hot pan or wok to sear it to perfection.

Its history, however, is a little more complicated than its name. To get a glimpse into how this dish came about, we need to go back to the 19th century, when French colonized Vietnam.

French colonization was as bad news for Vietnamese cows as it was for the ordinary people of Vietnam. Up until the French arrived, cows were purely viewed as working animals and used for manual labor, not for food. But the French appetite for cows was contagious. By the time the 1920s rolled about, the Vietnamese had added beef to their diet.

Except it was done the Vietnamese way. Food is a communal experience in Vietnam and back then, the idea of one individual steak was a strange concept. Plus, beef was a luxury that could be harder to come by. So what do you do? You cut it into pieces and serve it up in typically Vietnamese fashion – to be shared with the whole family.

As for the seasoning, that’s another story of cross-cultural culinary influence that Vietnam has put its own spin on. Though soybeans and the resulting soy sauce was originally cultivated in China, the Vietnamese version, Tuong, is thicker and has a salty, slightly sour flavor.

As a food tour guide in Hanoi once told me: “We’ve had so many colonizers. We kick them out but we keep the food.”

And thank goodness for that. Perhaps that is one good thing that came out of all the mess of colonization: the food. Because bo luc lac, like so much of Vietnamese cuisine, is heavenly. Silver linings, right?

Why Make this Bo Luc Lac?

You have little time and a big appetite. This is the perfect feels-like-a-fancy-meal-that-took-a-lot-of-time kind of recipe that actually takes all of 20 minutes to make.

A bit of meat goes a long way. What do you do when you have one steak leftover and a whole family to feed? You make bò lúc lắc, of course. It’s a brilliant way to stretch out a little bit of meat to feed a whole family.

It’s very kid-friendly. Not only is shaken beef almost guaranteed to have your kid finish his bowl and ask for more, it’s also a good dish to try cooking with (older) kids. Just make sure they don’t get too close to the wok.

One thing that I try my best to instill in my kid is a love for real food and the ability to feed himself. Letting him help while I make simple dishes like bo luc lac is an easy way to do that. Plus, the sizzle-sizzle-shake-sizzle is as fun for the kiddos as it is for you.

Bo Luc Lac Ingredients

Shaking beef is a super simple recipe with only a few parts. Here’s what you’ll need:

Beef

Beef is the star ingredient so what’s the best meat to use for bo luc lac?

The best meat for bo luc lac is pretty much any tender cut of beef. Think: tenderloin, boneless rib eye, strip steak, or even filet mignon. Avoid leaner cuts like skirt or flank as we won’t be doing anything to tenderize the meat.

So the only rule is that it’s a tender, flavorful cut of meat. Bo luc lac is not a complicated dish and it only has a few ingredients to it, of which beef is the main feature. It’s also not marinated long enough to tenderize and we will be quick-searing this, not letting it slow-cook and soften. So the quality matters.

Good beef = good bo luc lac. Bad beef = tough, chewy bo luc lac.

Tender is the way to go.

Onions (or Shallots)

Onions – or shallots, which is my personal preference – go so well with the beef that they should feature in some way. But how you choose to use them is entirely up to you.

Here are the options:

Add it to the beef: The most popular option is to slice or dice white, yellow or brown onions and cook them alongside the beef. You can either add them in once the beef is mostly done so that the onions retain a bit of crunch or you can do them first and cook them so they’re caramelized.

In the marinade: One option is to blend onions or shallots with the bo luc lac sauce. It’s easy, adds a bit of tenderizing and boosts flavor in the marinade, and it great if you have people in your family who don’t like the texture of onions.

Pickled onion side: Another delicious option is to pickle the onions. The easiest way to do this is to mi together 1/2 cup rice vinegar or lime juice with 1/2 tablespoon salt and 1/2 tablespoon white sugar. Give it a good stir, toss in thinly-sliced red onions, cover and set aside in the fridge for around 15 minutes, while you make the shaking beef.

Bo Luc Lac Sauce

The bo luc lac marinade is as easy to make as the dish itself. Here’s what you need:

• 1.5 tbsp minced garlic (6 garlic cloves)
• 2 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tbsp sesame oil

Please keep in mind that the measurements are suggestions – not law. If you like more garlic, crack on. More pepper? Go for it. More soy sauce? You’re the boss.

Cooking Oil

A quick note on the cooking oil to use – because this is a high heat stir fry situation, you want to choose something with a high smoke point. I like to use ghee because it has the beautiful taste of butter and a very high smoke point (485°F (252°C).

These oils are also good:

• Avocado oil – 480-520°F
• Safflower oil – 450-500°F
• Canola oil – 400-475°F
• Soybean oil – 450°F
• Sunflower oil – 450°F.
• Peanut oil – 450°F.

If you want the taste of butter but don’t have ghee, use a 50/50 mix of a high smoke point oil and butter. That will help raise the smoke point of butter and delay burning.

How to Make Bo Luc Lac

Making bo luc lac is very beginner-friendly. It’ll take you about 15 to 25 minutes from start to finish.

Marinate the Beef

Prepare the bo luc lac marinade first by combining minced garlic, oyster sauce, fish sauce, soy sauce, sugar, black pepper, and sesame oil in a bowl.

Then cut the beef into little chunks of bite-sized pieces. I like to trim away large layers of fat – not the whole thing, but like 80-90%. Place the beef cubes into the marinade and toss to coat thoroughly.

At this point, you can cover the marinating beef and place it in the fridge for up to 24 hours. OR you can leave it to marinate on the counter while you prep the rest of the ingredients.

Note: I recommend letting the beef marinate in the fridge for at least an hour if you can spare the time. Even a bit of marinating time gives the meat an opportunity to soak in the flavors of the bo luc lac sauce and leads to much more flavorful bites of beef.

Prep the Other Ingredients

While the beef is soaking up the marinade sauce, you can prep anything else you’ll be adding or serving alongside the bo luc lac.

• Onions. Slice or dice the onions into smaller pieces. Pickled them in vinaigrette if you’ll be serving them that way.
• Bell peppers. If you’re adding bell peppers to your bo luc lac, now is the time to dice them up.
• Garlic. If you want to add more garlic into the dish, slice and dice it now. Lengthwise is perfect.
• Watercress. Or whatever leafy green you’re using, clean and drain it. Set aside.
• Tomatoes. Wash and slice the tomatoes.
• Dipping sauce. Squeeze the juice from one lime and mix it with salt and pepper.

Make Bo Luc Lac

Heat a wok (or cast iron pan or skillet) on medium heat. Add about a tablespoon of ghee or an oil and butter combination. Add shallots and garlic and toss to coat them in the delicious butter for about a minute.

Clear a big circle in the center of the wok by pushing the onions toward the edge of the wok. Turn the heat to high. Add half the beef cubes to the center of the wok and enjoy that amazing sizzle.

Shake and sizzle for about 2 to 5 minutes until the beef is evenly cooked on all sides. If you want it to get a bit of char, let the meat sit for at least a minute or so before shaking it up. Set aside.

Repeat with the other half of beef cubes. Sizzle, sizzle, shake, shake again.

When the beef is seared to perfection, remove from heat and serve.

What to Eat with Shaken Beef?

The tender, seared pieces of shaken beef are so delicious, you’ll be picking them off one-by-one on their own. That’s what I do as and after I’m cooking them – to taste test, of course. And it’s what my husband does as he wanders in the kitchen to “get something.”

But don’t eat the whole thing that way! Especially since bo luc lac tastes even better paired with a couple perfect side dishes, like…

Dipping Sauce

So easy to make and adds a tremendous amount of zingy, zesty flavor to this marinaded beef. Just mix the juice of one lime with salt and pepper.

Com do (Vietnamese Red Rice)

The fluffy, savory-tangy-umami Cơm Đỏ is the ideal complement to shaken beef. It gets its gorgeous red hue from its star ingredient – tomato! And that marriage of tomato and rice somehow makes the shaken beef taste even better.

It only takes about 10 to 15 minutes to whip up and it elevates the bo luc lac so much that I highly recommend you serve the two together.

Watercress Salad

This is how I first met bo luc lac – steaming and seared, with a side of fresh-as-can-be watercress. The combination was so stunning that even now, over 20 years later, I can’t have watercress without thinking of shaken beef. They just…belong together.

It’s also one of the easiest – and very low-carb, low-calorie – ways to serve bo luc lac. The shaken beef is already flavorful and seasoned so you don’t even need a dressing for the watercress. Just plate the watercress, put some shaken beef on the side, slice up a couple tomatoes and you’ve got yourself an incredible salad.

Vietnamese Steak Frites

Want to make this dish even more popular with the kids? Serve it up with a side of french fries. It’s not traditional, sure, but it is delicious.