Grilled Dried Beef (Thit Bo Kho)

Servings: 4
Ingredients:

1 lb Lean bottom round or
-sirloin, in one piece,
-about 6 inches in
Diameter
2    Stalks fresh lemon grass,
-or 2 tablespoons dried
-lemon grass
2 sm Red chile peppers, seeded
2 1/2 tb Sugar or honey
1 tb Nuoc mam (Vietnamese fish
-sauce)
3 tb Light soy sauce

Here’s a Vietnamese version of beef ‘jerky’ made with red chilies and
honey or sugar that sounds like it’s off in the direction of your
Chinese Dried Fried Beef recipe.

This Vietnamese-style ‘beef Jerky’ is delicious served with drinks.
The Vietnamese enjoy eating it as a snack with glutinous rice. It is
also an ingredient in Green Papaya Salad.

Cut the beef across the grain onto very thin 3 by 3 inch slices. If
you are using fresh lemon grass, discard the outer leaves and upper
half of the stalk. Cut into thin slices and finely chop. If you are
using dried lemon grass, soak in warm water for 1 hour. Drain and
finely chop.

Combine the chiles and sugar in a mortar and pestle and pound to a
fine paste. Add the chopped lemon grass, fish sauce and soy sauce
and stir to blend. (If using a blender, combine all of these and
blend to a very fine paste.) Spread the paste over the beef pieces to
coat both sides. Let marinate for 30 minutes.

Spread out each slice of marinated beef on a large, flat wire rack or
baking sheet. Let stand in the sun until both sides are completely
dried, about 12 hours. (You can also place a rack on a jelly roll
pan and let the beef dry in the refrigerator for 2 days.)

Grill the beef over a medium charcoal fire or transfer the rack from
the refrigerator to the middle of a preheated 400F oven and bake
until brown and crisp, about 10 minutes.

Serve with glutinous rice.

NOTE: After cooking, the meat may be kept for up to 1 week in a
covered jar at room temperature.

Makes 4 servings.

From ‘The Foods of Vietnam’ by Nicole Rauthier. Stewart, Tabori and
Chang. 1989.

Posted by Stephen Ceideburg August 28 1990.