Bold, bright flavors can revitalize a boring meal. It’s easy enough to cook a steak in a skillet, but it’s much more exciting to sass up a steak supper with umami-rich soy sauce, zippy garlic, zesty citrus and flavorful oyster and fish sauces all tossed together with peppery watercress and juicy tomatoes.
This Vietnamese dish gets its unusual name from the way the beef is shaken in the skillet while it is cooking. Inspired by award-winning cookbook author, culinary authority and food blogger at Vietworldkitchen.com, Andrea Nguyen, the recipe contains user-friendly ingredients found at larger grocery stores and markets.
In contrast to a typical American steak supper with a huge slab of meat per person, this recipe is good and good for you with a hefty amount of greens and vegetables and a modest amount of steak. Not only does this make the resulting dish more plant-forward, but it’s also easier on the wallet.
Sirloin steaks are often more moderately priced than filet mignon or rib-eye steak. The sirloin sits further back toward the rear leg, where the muscles get more exercise resulting in tremendous flavor. Sirloin cuts are lean with high-protein, low-fat contents, making sirloin an easy and accessible choice for this recipe.
Shaking Beef
1 pound sirloin steak, cut into bite-size cubes
1/2 red onion, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon low-sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon fish sauce
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, divided
4 cups watercress
2 cups cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
1 tablespoon pure olive oil, plus more if needed
2 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
Juice of 1 lime
Lime wedges, for serving
In a medium bowl, combine the cubed beef, red onion, oyster sauce, garlic, soy sauce, sugar, fish sauce and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Stir to combine and coat. Set aside to marinate at room temperature for 20 minutes.
Place the watercress and tomatoes in a large serving bowl. Set aside.
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When oil is shimmering, carefully add the beef, onions, and any marinade that has not soaked into the beef in a single layer without crowding. (Depending on the size of your skillet, you may need to cook in two batches. If cooking in batches, more oil may be required.)
Cook, shaking the pan every 30 to 60 seconds, until the cubes are seared on all sides and reach the desired degree of doneness, 3 to 4 minutes for medium-rare. Add the beef and onions to the reserved salad.
In a small bowl, stir together the vinegar, lime juice and remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
Drizzle half of the vinegar dressing on the salad. Toss to combine and coat. Serve immediately with the remaining vinegar dressing and lime wedges on the side.
Serves 4.
Per serving: 289 calories (percent of calories from fat, 56), 25 grams protein, 7 grams carbohydrates, 3 grams total sugars, 1 gram fiber, 18 grams total fat (6 grams saturated), 85 milligrams cholesterol, 484 milligrams sodium.
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