Ahh…Memorial Day weekend is here. What a better way to enjoy the weekend with anything grilled! This is a recipe taken from Madhur Jaffrey’s Step-by-Step Cooking. She is a wonderful cook, writes everything in details, and produces delicious dishes. I’ve tried this recipe before and I’m sure you’ll like it too. In Vietnam, I imagine, people refer to this dish as boeuf brochette or boeuf Napoleon. This tempting dish is cooked over charcoal or wood grill and its aroma is definitely mouth-watering!
This will be my first post to enter Virtual Recipe Club owned by Savory Notebook. This month event of VCR titled Food on a Stick is hosted by Tummy Treasure. I actually didn’t know this event until I visited Gabriella’s blog because she was so nice to drop by and left few comments here. Thanks to you Gabriella!
I served this beef with rice but you can serve it as stated in the recipe, using lettuces. You will have to take the meat off the skewers and then put them on top of the lettuce leaf. On top of the meat you will put all the garnishes, wrap the lettuce and dip it into Fish Sauce Seasoned with Lime Juice and eat it. The way I eat it is to serve it with warm cooked rice, put some salad of cucumber, radish, carrots and lettuce on the side. You could add tomatoes to it too. Drizzle the salad with your favorite dressing, Asian style preferably, and enjoy your meal!
Napoleon Beef On A Skewer (Thit Bo Lui)
Serves 4
1 stick fresh lemon grass
90 gr (3 1/2 oz) onion
75 gr (3 oz) red pepper
1 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon chilli powder, or to taste
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
450 gr (1 lb) lean steak, about 2.5 cm (1 inch) thick
To Serve
about 12 crisp inner leaves of iceberg, cos, or other crisp lettuce (optional)
some sliced spring onion (optional)
cucumber slices (optional)
few fresh mint leaves (optional)
few small fresh coriander sprigs (optional)
few small fresh bean sprouts (optional)
Crisply Fried Shallot Flakes (recipe below)
Roasted Peanuts, crushed
Fish Sauce Seasoned with Lime Juice (recipe below)
Slice the fresh lemon grass crossways as thinly as possible, starting at the bulbous end and going up about 15 cm (6 inches). Discard the straw-like top.
Peel and coarsely chop the onion. Desseed and coarsely chop the red pepper. Combine the lemon grass, onion, red pepper, salt, black pepper and chilli powder in an electric blender. Blend to a smooth paste, adding a few tablespoons of water if necessary.
Put the oil in a medium, preferably non-stick, frying pan and set it over a fairly high heat. When the oil is hot, add the paste from the blender. Stir and fry for 6-8 minutes or until the paste has darkened in color; lower the heat towards the end of this cooking time to avoid over-browning if necessary. Leave the paste to cool.
Hold a large knife at a 135 degree angle to your work surface (45 degree for left-handers) and cut the piece of meat against the grain into very thin slices (i.e. at a slight diagonal). Cut these slices into 2.5 cm (1 inch) pieces and put into a bowl.
Add the paste and oil from the frying pan and mix well. Cover and set aside to marinade at least 1 hour, or up to 24 hours if possible, refrigerating as necessary. (you may put the meat on its skewers before you set it aside, if that is more convenient).
Wash and dry the salad leaves and herbs, if using. Wash the bean sprouts and immerse in a bolw of cold water until ready to use, then drain thoroughly. Arrange the salda and herbs, if using, on a serving plate.
Preheat an indoor grill or an outdoor charcoal grill. Thread the meat fairly tightly on to 2-4 skewers – the number of skewers required will depend upon their length. Grill the meat about 13 cm (5 inches) from the heat source for about 5 minutes on one side, then turn and cook on the opposite side for 3-4 minutes. Serve as suggested.
Crisply Fried Shallot Flakes
7 shallots, or 2 medium onions
Salt
Vegetable oil for deep-frying
Peel the shallots, cut lengthwise into fine slivers, and place in a bowl. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt and toss lightly. Pour on 2 cups water and leave to soak for 30 minutes. Drain well and pat dry on paper towels.
Heat a 2-inch depth of oil in a wok set over a medium heat, or heat the recommended quantity of oil in a deep-fat fryer to 375 degree F. When the oil is hot, add the shallots, and fry for 1 minute. Turn the heat down to medium-low, or the deep-fat fryer to 325 degree F and continue to fry until the shallots are reddish-brown and crisp; if using a wok, keep stirring.
Remove the shallots with a slotted spoon and spread them out on paper towels to drain. Use at once, or leave until cool and crisp, then store in a screw-topped jar until needed.
Fish Sauce Seasoned with Lime Juice
Serves 4
1 clove garlic
4 tablespoons fish sauce
4 tablespoons lime or lemon juice
3 tablespoons sugar, or less to taste
3 to 4 fresh hot red or green chillies
Peel and mince the garlic. Combine it with the fish sauce, lime or lemon juice, sugar, and 4 tablespoons water. Mix well and pour into 4 individual bowls. Cut the chillies into very thin rounds and divide them among the bowls.
