Lok lak

Ingredients

• Beef sirloin — in three-centimetre cubes600 g
• Oyster sauce2 tbsp
• Soy sauce2 tbsp
• Garlic5 clove
• Sugar1 tbsp
• Ground black pepper2 tsp
• Limes3
• Lettuce200 g
• Tomatoes3
• Cucumber1
• Red onion1
• Eggs4
• Vegetable oil40 ml
• Saltto taste

Salt and spices grow more slowly than the rest: doubling a dish does not double the pepper.

Weight converts to ounces and volume to cups. Grams of flour are not turned into cups, because that depends on how tightly it is packed.

Method

1. 1

   Marinate the beef in the oyster and soy sauces with garlic, sugar and half the pepper for twenty minutes.

   22 min

2. 2

   Mix the lime juice with the remaining pepper and a pinch of salt; that is the dipping sauce.

   5 min

3. 3

   Arrange the lettuce, tomato and cucumber slices and red onion rings on a platter.

   8 min

4. 4

   Heat a pan as high as it goes and sear the beef in batches, a minute and a half each, without stirring constantly.

   10 min

5. 5

   Fry the eggs, keeping the yolks runny.

   5 min

6. 6

   Pile the beef on the vegetables, top with the eggs and give everyone their own small bowl of the dip.

   4 min

About the dish

The beef is cut in large cubes and seared briefly over a very high flame: crust outside, pink within. Smaller pieces dry out before any crust forms.

The dip, tuk meric, is lime juice, salt and ground black pepper and nothing else. Kampot pepper is among the best in the world, and the dip exists for it.

It is served on a bed of lettuce and tomato, often with a fried egg and rice. The juices run down and dress the vegetables, which is exactly why the plate is built that way.

Worth knowing

• — Sear in batches. All the meat at once drops the pan's temperature and the beef stews in its own juice.
• — Grind the pepper right before making the dip. Pre-ground, it loses the heat and the citrus note that Cambodian pepper is chosen for.
• — The beef needs no salt: the soy and oyster sauces are salty enough.

Nutrition

Per serving at the base yield, calculated from the ingredients rather than measured in a lab.

Calories

520 kcal

Protein

42 g

Fat

30 g

Carbs

18 g

More from Cambodia

• Fish amok — Fish in a coconut curry, steamed in a cup folded from banana leaf.