Việtnamese Shaking Beef {Bo Luc Lac}

Shaking Beef; a spectacularly fresh and flavourful Việtnamese salad of mixed greens, cucumbers, pickled red onions, juicy mango, tender rice vermicelli noodles, bright herbs, and an irresistible black pepper lime vinaigrette.

I am 100% devoted to salads, that is no news, but my current fave is Shaking Beef; a spectacularly fresh and flavourful Việtnamese salad of mixed greens, cucumbers, pickled red onions, juicy mango, tender rice vermicelli noodles, bright herbs, and an irresistible black pepper lime vinaigrette. This salad is a seriously satisfying main dish that is tossed together in no time at all.

I should say it shakes together in no time at all. The “shaking” part of the name Shaking Beef refers to how the beef is cooked in the pan. Your seasoned beef goes into a screaming hot pan and is shaken until browned on all sides.

I cannot even tell you how craveable this salad is. You’re just going to have to taste it for yourself. Luckily, it’s easy enough to make on weeknights!

Bo Luc Lac

Bo Luc Lac -a.k.a. Shaking Beef- is a standard item on Việtnamese restaurant menus but can appear in several different forms. Sometimes it’s beef cubes accompanied by rice or noodles and a side salad, with a black pepper and lime dipping sauce.

The version I love best, though, is similar to the salad form I’m sharing today. For this Bo Luc Lac recipe, I’ve replaced the usual dipping sauce with a black pepper lime vinaigrette for the whole salad and added some luscious, juicy mango to the party for a little burst of tropical sweetness.

Shaking Beef Recipe

It’s true that this Shaking Beef recipe is a little different than the average one, adding fresh mangoes, using pickled red onions in place of fresh, and a black pepper lime vinaigrette instead of a dipping sauce, but all of these changes work. While mangoes don’t usually appear on Shaking Beef, I think they should because a) mangoes are fabulous, and b) they pair beautifully with the beef. Oh, and c) because I just plain love them.

You can prepare many of the individual components for Shaking Beef ahead of time. Make a jar of quick pickled red onions and stash them in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks.

Slice the cucumbers, make your black pepper lime vinaigrette, marinate your beef, then boil, drain, and rinse your rice noodles earlier in the day. When it comes time to eat, all you need to do is slice your mango, assemble your salad, and throw that marinated beef in your super hot skillet. It’s so easy and delivers such explosive flavour.

What kind of pan should I use for my shaking beef?

Choose a stainless steel or cast iron skillet or wok with a sturdy handle. Most non-stick pans are not meant to be used over high heat.

High heat degrades non-stick surfaces and can cause them to release some chemicals into the food being cooked on them. Since they are not meant to go over very high heat, non-stick pans (with very few exceptions) cannot sear meat the way high-heat friendly pans can.

What’s the big deal? When you sear meat, you aren’t just developing colour, you’re also adding a divine layer of flavour that you simply cannot get any other way. It’s the deeply caramelized surface (courtesy of the Maillard reaction) that does it, and the only way to get it is to plonk meat into a wickedly hot pan.

The cooking method is easy peasy. Ideally, you’ll pop those beef cubes in the hot pan and shake the pan back and forth vigorously.

If you have a glass top stove, this just isn’t going to work for you, though. In that case, use a wooden or bamboo spoon or flexible turner to keep the beef moving constantly.

If Main Dish Salads are your thing, we also have Cheeseburger Salad, Greek Salad, Pizza Salad, Tex-Mex Cobb Salad, Spicy Southwestern Chicken Salad + Meal Prep, and Blackened Salmon Caesar Salad.

Shaking Beef

Arrange your greens, herbs, cucumbers, pickled onions, and mango over a serving platter and set aside. Cook rice vermicelli noodles according to package instructions, drain, and rinse them. Arrange this in the center of your salad greens to make a bed for the hot beef.

Add all of the vinaigrette ingredients to a jar with a tight fitting lid and shake to combine.

Add the beef cubes with the marinade ingredients to a zipper top bag and squish to really work those into the beef cubes. Pop the bag into the refrigerator and let it marinate for at least an hour, but preferably overnight.

Drizzle half of the vegetable oil into a stainless steel or cast-iron skillet set over high heat. Add half of the beef cubes to the pan, shaking just to distribute the beef in an even layer, then leaving it to sear for 2 minutes.

Shake the pan or use a turner to stir the beef vigorously for 1-2 more minutes, or until the beef cubes are medium rare. Drizzle a little of your black pepper lime vinaigrette over the greens and rice noodles.

Transfer the beef cubes directly from the pan to the bed of rice noodles. Drizzle with a little more of the black pepper lime vinaigrette. Serve immediately.