Lok Lak

Ingredients

Beef

• 600 gbeef sirloin or tenderloin, in 3 cm cubes
• 2 tbspoyster sauce
• 1 tbsplight soy sauce
• 1 tbspfish sauce
• 1 tbsppalm sugar
• 4garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tspfreshly cracked Kampot black pepper
• 2 tbspneutral oil, for searing

Tuk meric (dipping sauce)

• 2 tspcoarsely cracked Kampot black pepper
• 1 tspfine salt
• Juice of 2 limes
• 1 tspsugar
• 1sliced bird’s eye chilli (optional)

To plate

• 1 headof lettuce, leaves separated
• 2tomatoes, sliced
• 1cucumber, sliced
• 1small onion, sliced into rings and soaked in cold water
• 4eggs
• 600 gsteamed jasmine rice

Directions

1. Cut the beef into even 3 cm cubes and toss with the oyster sauce, soy, fish sauce, palm sugar, garlic and pepper. Marinate 30 minutes at room temperature.
2. Mix the tuk meric in four small saucers: cracked pepper and salt first, then lime juice and sugar whisked in. It should be sharp, salty and aggressively peppery — one per person.
3. Line four plates with lettuce, tomato, cucumber and drained onion rings, building a nest for the beef.
4. Fry the eggs in hot oil so the whites blister and crisp at the edges and the yolks stay liquid. Set aside.
5. Get a wok or heavy frying pan smoking hot and add the oil. It must be genuinely hot; lok lak is a fast sear, not a stew.
6. Sear the beef in two batches, spread out in one layer, undisturbed for 60 seconds, then toss and cook another 60 to 90 seconds. Crowding the pan makes it boil in its own marinade.
7. The beef is right at medium-rare to medium: a dark caramelised crust, still deep pink inside and springy to the touch. Pour any pan juices over the plated salad.
8. Pile the beef on the salad, slide a fried egg alongside, and serve with jasmine rice and the pepper-lime dip. Each cube is dunked before eating.

Technique

• Kampot pepper is the reason this dish exists in its Cambodian form — bright, floral and fiery in a way that pre-ground black pepper is not. Crack it coarsely and only at the last moment.
• The name traces to the French-era loc lac, and the Vietnamese bo luc lac is the sibling dish; the difference is the tuk meric dip and the fried egg, which are Cambodian.
• Everything is prepared before the beef hits the pan. The whole cook takes three minutes and the meat must go straight from wok to plate.

Substitutions

• No Kampot pepper: use the best whole black peppercorns you can find and increase the quantity slightly, or add a few crushed green peppercorns for the floral note.
• Oyster sauce can be replaced by an extra tablespoon of soy plus a teaspoon of palm sugar.

Variations

• Many Phnom Penh restaurants serve lok lak on a bed of rice with the sauce from the pan poured over, rather than on salad.
• A tomato-ketchup-spiked version, sweeter and redder, is common in home cooking and in Siem Reap.

History

Cubed beef in a black pepper and lime sauce; the name and technique come from Vietnamese bo luc lac, shaped further by French steak culture.

Frequently asked questions

What is Lok Lak?

Lok Lak is a main from Cambodia: stir-fried cubed beef with lime-pepper dip, egg and rice. Cubed beef in a black pepper and lime sauce; the name and technique come from Vietnamese bo luc lac, shaped further by French steak culture.

How long does Lok Lak take to make?

Lok Lak takes 20 min plus 30 min marinating of preparation and 10 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Lok Lak?

Yes, within limits. No Kampot pepper: use the best whole black peppercorns you can find and increase the quantity slightly, or add a few crushed green peppercorns for the floral note. Oyster sauce can be replaced by an extra tablespoon of soy plus a teaspoon of palm sugar.

What is the most important thing to get right in Lok Lak?

Get a wok or heavy frying pan smoking hot and add the oil. It must be genuinely hot; lok lak is a fast sear, not a stew.