Khmer Lok Lak

Also called Beef Loc Lac.  

This dish is one of the most basic meals to make in Cambodian cuisine and the one closest to my cooking ability. It is considered street food within the country. I started my adventure of making this dish by researching a recipe online and scouring through dozens of unique south east Asian meals then narrowing down on this recipe which has roots in several countries. There is a Vietnamese and Chinese equivalent to this dish and it got its start in Vietnam but it is one of the most popular Cambodian dishes out there.

If you're looking for a fun and easy dish this is definitely worth a try.

I marinated the chunks of beef for one hour in kampot pepper, garlic, soy sauce, flour, tomato paste, vegetable oil and some spices. In the end I needed to add a lot of sugar to counteract all the soy sauce and it remained very flavorful which worked for me. I also added tomato paste to the white coconut rice which gave it a nice flavor and the reddish-yellow colour.

In the last photos I made the plate up very nice for the photo but the dish was actually a lot tastier than I had expected it to be. The dipping sauce in the last picture was also part of the recipe and included soy sauce, pepper, lemon juice and vinegar, which substituted fish sauce. 

INGREDIENTS

• 1½ lb beef steak , sliced
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 4 scallions , chopped

For the marinade

• 3 tablespoons tomato sauce
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 3 cloves garlic , chopped
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 5 tablespoons fish sauce
• ¼ teaspoon Kampot pepper
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon chicken broth powder
• 2 teaspoons potato starch (or cornstarch)
• 3 teaspoons paprika

For the sauce

• Juice of 5 limes
• 3 tablespoons cold water
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 2 cloves garlic , chopped
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• ½ teaspoon Kampot pepper

Sides

• A few leaves lettuce
• 2 ​​tomatoes , sliced
• Steamed white rice

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Mix all the marinade ingredients in a salad bowl, add the meat and stir well.
2. Marinate the meat for 1 hour in the refrigerator.

3. Heat the 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a wok or pan and fry the chopped scallions over medium heat until they turn light brown.

4. Add the meat, mix well and sauté for 5 to 10 minutes.
5. In a bowl, stir all the ingredients of the lok lak sauce vigorously.
6. Prepare large plates.
7. In each plate, place a bed of lettuce leaves and a few slices of tomato.
8. Place the meat on the lettuce leaves and sliced ​​tomatoes.
9. Serve with steamed white rice.
10. Place a small bowl of lok lak sauce on the side or the center of each plate.