Beef & Watercress Salad

Click to Enlarge	Beef & Watercress Salad Vietnam - Thit Bo Luc Lac
	Serves Effort: Sched: DoAhead:	4 salad ** 1-3/4 hr Most	This tasty warm or room temperature salad is often mistranslated as "Shaking Beef" (it's the pan that gets shaken). It's not a daily dish in Vietnam but very popular for celebrations. There are, of course, endless variations of just how it's made.

10
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5
1/2
1/2
1
1/2
1/2
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6
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4
1-1/2
1/4
1-1/2
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2
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oz
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cl
t
T
T
t
t
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oz
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oz
T
t
T
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Beef (1)
-- Marinade
Garlic
Pepper, black (2)
Fish Sauce
Oil
Sugar
Salt
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Watercress
-- Dressing
Onion, red
Rice Vinegar
Salt
Oil (3)
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Oil
-- Garnish
Cherry Tomatoes.

Cut BEEF. How you cut it depends on your beef. Very tender cuts can be cubed about 3/4 inche. Tougher cuts should be sliced cross-grain to about 1/8 inch thick.
Crush GARLIC and chop fine. Mix All Marinade Items together with Beef and set aside for an hour or so.
Remove tough stems from WATERCRESS, break into moderate length fronds.
Slice ONION very thin. Soak in water for a few minutes to mellow, then drain and mix with Rice Vinegar and Salt. Marinate for at least 15 minutes, then mix with Oil.
In a spaceous sauté pan or wok, heat OIL very hot. Fry Beef hard, tumbling frequently until desired doneness (don't overcook or it'll dry out).
Arrange your salad plate: Wattercress first, then Onion Slices, then Beef on top. Finally pour the Dressing from the onions over the beef, garnish with halved cherry tomatoes set around the edge (if desired), and serve warm (its still excellent if it cools off). .

NOTES:

Beef Weight is with all excess fat removed. On the other hand, beef with too little fat lacks flavor, there should be a little marbled through it.
Pepper Some recipes call for fresh green peppercorns. Use these if you have them (I buy them brined, drain and freeze). Chop them and use at least twice as much as for black pepper.
Oil Pure Olive Oil works well here but Virgin might be a little too non-Vietnamese. The same oil works fine for the marinade but I use the higher temperature Olive Pomace oil for the frying.
U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch