Beef Lok Lak

Cubed beef seared with garlic and savoury sauces, served over lettuce and tomato with a Kampot pepper and lime dip.

Illustration inspired by a riverside cafe in Phnom Penh.

Dish details
Khmer name	ឡុកឡាក់
Other names	Lok lak; Lok lak sach ko; Loc lac; Shaking beef
Dish types	Stir-fry
Subjects	Food & Foodways; Migration & Diaspora
Related dishes	Kdam Chaa Mrech Kampot

Beef lok lak (ឡុកឡាក់, lok lak) is seared cubed beef served over lettuce and tomato with a dipping sauce of Kampot pepper and lime. It is widely regarded as one of Cambodia's national dishes.

Cultural context

In Cambodia the dish is often finished with a sunny-side-up egg and eaten with steamed rice. Chef Nak counts it among the country's classic French-influenced dishes. In one Cambodian telling, the egg on top stands for sunlight. The dipping sauce depends on Kampot pepper, grown in Cambodia's Kampot region.

Ingredients and preparation

Cooks often marinate the beef first. One Cambodian recipe uses sea salt, palm sugar, Chinese cooking wine, oyster sauce, soy sauce and sesame oil, with tenderloin cut into pieces about 2 to 3 centimeters (1 inch) wide. The beef goes into a very hot pan with chopped garlic and oil, and the marinade is added as it cooks.

Another method sears the beef in batches, then cooks it with onion and a separate sauce of oyster sauce, soy sauce and sugar once the meat has begun to char. That recipe tenderizes the beef with cornstarch and baking soda along with soy sauce, oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, pepper and garlic.

The plate is laid first with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, carrot and onion, and the hot beef is placed on top. For the dip, dry-roasted Kampot peppercorns are ground with salt and lime juice, which strengthens the pepper's aroma.

History and origins

The origins of lok lak are debated. One account traces shaking beef to the sidewalk eateries of Saigon, where cooks used ingredients the French had introduced, and holds that the dish then spread to Cambodia. The Cambodian chefs and histories gathered by Grantourismo Travels offer other paths: through Vietnamese workers employed by French colonial officials, with the Vietnamese presence after the 1978 invasion, or during Vietnam's rule over parts of Cambodia in the nineteenth century. The same writers link it to Cambodian-Chinese cooking, since Chinese black-pepper beef shares many of its ingredients and methods, and they point to older records of stir-frying in Cambodian cooking and of pepper growing in the region. Some writers treat lok lak as a Cambodian dish that carries Vietnamese, Chinese and French threads.

The early Cambodian version used good steak, cut into pieces and seared in French butter, a trace of the colonial period. A later version, shaped by Chinese technique, used cheaper cuts cut into strips and seasoned with oyster sauce. That version is the one most often eaten in Cambodia today.

Regional and household variations

Household recipes vary widely. Some cooks use small cubes and others thin slices, and they adjust the seasoning to match. Some Cambodian cooks add green peppercorns to the stir-fry instead of relying only on ground pepper in the marinade or dip. Onion and shallot may be served raw with the salad, or the shallot may be fried with the garlic before the beef goes in. In Cambodia, French fries are a popular side alongside the usual vegetables.

Preparations and recipes

• Chef Nak, NHUM: Recipes from a Cambodian Home Kitchen

  Beef tenderloin marinated in palm sugar, oyster and soy sauces, seared with garlic and served with a Kampot pepper, salt and lime dip.

References