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Once the very first dish we ate in Cambodia; Lok Lak. A simple dish with beef strips, a fried egg and crunchy lettuce.
Lok lak recipe
After a long day of traveling we finally arrived in Cambodia. We had a hot day on the bus from Laos. Our bus broke down all the way. Not the engine, but the air conditioning. And with the oppressive heat, it was really not pleasant to say the least. Of course, I also realized that the locals always had to get from A to B in overcrowded buses or trains without air conditioning, but on the other hand, when you have a bus with air conditioning, it’s nice when the air conditioning works. Right?
Roadside restaurant
Just over the border we stopped at a Cambodian version of a roadside restaurant. I had done some googling for traditional Cambodian recipes, and Lok Lak and Chicken Amok were the two dishes I had written down in my “to try” booklet. And let’s just say those two (and a lot more, of course) were on the menu at that little place. So that became my very first meal in Cambodia.
Back home
Once back home I always love trying out recipes I ate while traveling and I picked this lok lak recipe. It took some searching to find something I liked and something that I thought was manageable at home. So this is my version of the traditional lok lak recipe. It might not be completely original but keep in mind that I have to do with ingredients available in the Netherlands.
But regardless of that, this is a pretty tasty dish! There is a relatively long list of ingredients but it’s really not that complicated. It’s mostly mixing the ingredients for a marinade and such. So just stick with it and you’ll have a delicious lok lak on the table in no time at all!
Cambodia
If you’ve not been to Cambodia, it is a wonderful place, with lots of history and amazing people. I loved spending time there and would love to go back and explore the markets there some more. So much to see! And so much to taste.
I hope you will enjoy this delicious lok lak recipe!
Originally this dish is apparently from Vietnam and not from Cambodia although both will probably claim it is theirs. In Vietnam it is known as bò lúc lắc (which means shaking beef) and is fairly similar to the one below.
Lok lak recipe
Ingredients
Marinade
- 500 grams steak thinly sliced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon oyster sauce
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
Stir-Fry Sauce
- 4 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 120 ml water
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- teaspoon salt
- Sesame oil
Lime pepper sauce
- 60 ml lime juice freshly squeezed
- 30 ml water
- 1 tsp garlic grated
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp fish sauce
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 red pepper finely chopped
- Salt to taste
For the salad
- Lettuce of your choice
- 2 sliced ripe tomatoes
- Gherkin
- 1 red onion finely sliced
- Spring onions
- boiled or fried egg
How to make lok lak
Steak instructions
- Cut the steak into thin slices, mix with the marinade and leave to marinate for at least one hour.
- Meanwhile, make the lime pepper sauce and stir-fry sauce by combining the ingredients. Set aside.
- Stir-fry the steak strips briefly in the oil, then remove from the pan. Add the stir-fry sauce and reduce until you have a thick, syrupy sauce. If necessary, add a little more cornstarch.
- At the end, add the steak strips again and let it heat up.
- Plate the salad and serve the beef and egg on top. Sprinkle over the lemon pepper sauce
Nutrition Information per portion:
Disclaimer:
The nutritional values above are calculated per portion. The details are based on standard nutritional tables and do not constitute a professional nutritional advice.
