Serves: 6–8
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Difficulty: Easy–Medium
Key flavors: savory beef, garlic, lime, Kampot pepper
Best with: steamed rice

• Beef & Vegetables

  • 1 kg beef tenderloin

  • 5 cloves garlic

  • 2 tbsp cooking oil

  • 1.5 tbsp palm sugar

  • 1 tsp sea salt

  • 2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine

  • 2 tbsp oyster sauce

  • 2 tbsp soy sauce

  • 1.5 tbsp sesame oil

  • 500 g lettuce

  • 400 g ripe tomatoes

  • 200 g onion

  • 4 eggs

  Salt & Kampot Pepper Sauce

  • 1.5 tbsp sea salt

  • 1 tbsp Kampot pepper

  • 5 tbsp lime juice

Fry the eggs sunny-side up and set aside. Finely chop the garlic. Wash the lettuce leaves and drain well. Thinly slice the onion and tomatoes.

Cut the beef tenderloin into 2–3 cm cubes. Marinate with sea salt, palm sugar, Chinese cooking wine, oyster sauce, soy sauce, and sesame oil. Mix well.

Heat a frying pan on high heat with cooking oil. Add chopped garlic and stir until the garlic browns lightly. Add the marinated beef (with all the marinade) and cook for 5–7 minutes, depending on how rare you want the beef.

Dry roast the black Kampot peppercorns in a frying pan over medium-low heat for 2–3 minutes until fragrant. Grind the roasted pepper, place it in a bowl, then add sea salt and lime juice. Mix well.

On a serving plate, arrange a bed of lettuce, then layer tomatoes, then onions. Spoon the cooked beef over the vegetables and place fried eggs on top. Serve with the Kampot pepper sauce and fragrant steamed rice.

Sear hot and fast, Lok Lak is at its best when the beef stays tender and juicy, with a bold, bright dipping sauce to cut through the richness.

The recipe is in my cookbook "NHUM.”