I’m really in my Vietnamese food era this summer. The last few dishes have all included some kind of lemongrass marinade or garlic lime sauce, and that’s just because I’m obsessed with these fresh flavors this summer.
This week, I’m sharing a Vietnamese shaking beef inspired bowl – there’s a garlic soy marinated steak, a tomato shallot rice, sautéed veggies, and a summer-y tomato and corn salad.
It’s balanced, fresh, delicious, and comes together in under 45 minutes. I can’t stop thinking about this bowl.
Notes and a little more about each of the components:
The ingredient list may seem a bit long, but it’s likely you have 90% of these in your pantry / refrigerator. The veggie sauté is also VERY versatile. I wasn’t planning to include broccoli in this, but I had half a head left in my fridge, and it was delicious. This is a perfect recipe to use what you have.
Protein marinade – simple garlic soy marinade made with pantry staples. skip the sugar if you prefer.
For the stir fry – versatile. use what you have (or what you’re craving!) You can use just 1 ingredient, or use up to 4 different veg like I did.
Tomato and Corn Salad – I keep the corn raw (I love the natural sweetness from raw fresh corn), but you’re welcome to char it for a few minutes if you prefer.
Nuoc Cham – a liquidy sauce that truly pulls the whole bowl together. Feel free to add a jalapeño or red pepper flake if you want some kick.
Tomato Shallot Rice – SO easy and a fun way to switch up your nightly rice routine (and add some extra protein with the quinoa). I do a ratio of 75% jasmine white rice and 25% quinoa and throw in all the other ingredients straight into the rice cooker pot. My Chinese ancestors would probably shun me after hearing this, but I don’t wash my rice when I’m making flavored rice. Mainly because I want to make sure the water to rice ratio is correct, and when you wash the rice, it messes with the water ratio. I know… I know… but to be honest, I don’t wash my rice a lot and it’s delicious and fine (and I get perfectly cooked rice every single time).
Home Chef tips:
- Use a high quality cut of beef – I recommend using either a hanger steak, beef tenderloin, or skirt steak.
- Start by cutting all the vegetables first – this way, you don’t need to wash your cutting board and you can keep your prep time to under 30 minutes.
- Toss all the tomato corn salad ingredients into a mixing bowl. Everything is going to get mixed anyways, so save yourself some dishes and add them straight to a mixing bowl.
- For the nuoc Cham sauce, if you’re not a fan of fish sauce, you can substitute with soy sauce. It doesn’t have the same flavor profile so I highly recommend you trying this with fish sauce (I used to be skeptical about the smell, but it WORKS with everything and is delicious!)
- When serving and eating, use a fork and knife to eat the steak (don’t try to bite into the chunks of beef) – might be obvious, but you want to cut against the grain even when you’re eating to get the best tender eating experience.
- Serve with the extra nuoc Cham sauce on the side. I love to spoon extra sauce over the beef along with the tomato cucumber salad.
- Every component in this recipe can be doubled or tripled.
Prep Ahead Options:
- Veggies – sautéed veggies can be cut up to 2 days in advance. Store sealed in an airtight container. For the fresh tomatoes and cucumbers, I recommend cutting these fresh right before you eat, or the morning of.
- Tomato Shallot Rice – can be made up to 3 days in advance. Reheat with a splash (1-2 tablespoons) of water.
- Steak – best made fresh. You can marinate and keep in the fridge for 1 day. If you want it to last more than 1 day, I recommend using a vacuum sealer.
- Nuoc cham – can be made up to 5 days ahead of time. This sauce actually builds flavor over time (the garlic has time to marinate), and is better the next day.
Storage and Reheating:
Storage: Store the cooked rice, sautéed veggies, and beef in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
You can store the tomato, corn, and cucumber salad in the same container, or another airtight container. I recommend keeping the extra nuoc Cham sauce on the side.
Reheating: Reheat the veggies, rice, and beef in a pan with a splash of water. Do not heat the tomato, corn, and cucumber salad.
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Vietnamese Inspired Shaking Beef Bowl
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Description
This week, I’m sharing a “shaking beef” inspired bowl – there’s a garlic soy marinated steak, a tomato shallot rice, sautéed veggies, and a summer-y tomato and corn salad.
Ingredients
Shaking beef recipe
- 1.5 lb beef tenderloin or hanger steak
Protein marinade:
- 1.5 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon of neutral oil
- .5 tsp sugar
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
For the stir fry:
- 5 yellow onion
- 1 bell pepper
- 1/2 head of broccoli
- 1 zucchini
- 1 tablespoon of water
Tomato and Corn Salad:
- 2 large, ripe tomatoes
- 3 Persian cucumbers
- 1 ear of corn
- Handful Mint
Nuoc Cham:
- 2.5 tablespoons white sugar
- 2.5 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1.5 tablespoons of rice vinegar
- 1.5 tablespoons of lime juice
- .25 cup of water
- 1 clove garlic, minced
Tomato Shallot Rice:
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- .75 cup of jasmine rice
- .25 cup of white quinoa
- 1 shallot, diced
- .5 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1.25 cups of water
Instructions
- Make the tomato shallot rice using your usual method of cooking rice. I use the rice cooker, and add the rice, quinoa, diced shallots, salt, and water to the bowl. Give this a stir, then cook. You can also cook this over the stovetop for 20 minutes on low heat. After 20 minutes, turn off the heat and let this sit for 10 minutes.
- Slice the persian cucumbers into ¼” thin coins, cut the tomatoes into 1” wedges, and slice the corn off the cob. Add all these tomato salad ingredients to a large mixing bowl.
- Dice the red pepper and onion into 1” pieces, cut the broccoli into 1” pieces, and half moon the zucchini. Add this to a large bowl.
- Mince the garlic for both the nuoc cham sauce and the beef marinade. Add 1/3 of the minced garlic to a small bowl or glass jar for the nuoc Cham sauce.
- Add the remaining minced garlic, cornstarch, soy sauce, and sugar to a large mixing bowl.
- Dice the steak into 1” cubes. Add the diced beef to the marinade and mix.
- Finish the nuoc cham sauce. To the vessel you added the minced garlic, add the sugar, fish sauce, lime juice, water, rice vinegar, and minced garlic. Mix to combine until the sugar is dissolved, then set aside.
- Heat a pan on medium high heat. Add a tablespoon of neutral oil and add the chopped veggies. Cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. After 3 minutes, or when you begin to see slight browning near the edges, add 2 tablespoons of water and a pinch of salt. Cook for another 1-2 minutes, then set aside.
- In the same pan, add the marinated steak. Cook on high heat for 4-5 minutes, shaking the pan vigorously every minute or so (you can also just stir it around), until the inside reaches 135F.
- While the veggies or steak are cooking, toss the tomato salad with the nuoc cham and assemble the rest of the plate – add a few heaping tablespoons of tomato shallot rice, charred veggies, and salad. Top with the cooked shaking beef, mint leaves, and serve.
- Prep Time: 30 min
- Cook Time: 15 min
- Category: Asian
- Method: stovetop
- Cuisine: Asian
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