Beef Lok Lak is a famous Khmer dish that is ubiquitous on restaurant menus and at street stalls all over Siem Reap. Chef Chanrith Van of Courtyard by Marriott Siem Reap Resort takes it up a notch by applying his classical culinary training to this local favourite; he uses local beef, and ages it in-house to achieve a melt-in-your-mouth texture. This in turn allows him to cut the beef in cubes (Lok Lak literally means “cube” in Cambodian), rather than slice it thinly, which is how most places serve it nowadays.

Watch the full video to see how it’s made >>

Recipe for Beef Lok Lak (4 parts) –

1) Beef Lok Lak

(Portion size: 1)

INGREDIENTS:

130g aged beef or rib eye
Pinch of salt
1 tsp olive oil
4 Tbsps Lok Lak Sauce
1 quail egg
5 shallots, sliced
5 cherry tomatoes, sliced
10g watercress
5g fresh green peppercorns
5g edible red & yellow flowers

METHOD:

1. Season beef with salt, set aside for 5 minutes.
2. Heat wok to a very high heat, add oil and sear beef on both sides until medium rare. Rest for 5 minutes.
3. Cut beef into 1.5cm cubes.
4. Fry quail egg sunny side up.
5. Wash wok, heat and add oil. Add Lok Lak sauce and beef, and fry briefly until beef is medium cooked.
6. Spoon beef on plate, drizzle with Lok Lak sauce, then arrange shallots, tomatoes, leaves, peppercorns and flowers, and top with a teaspoon of lime and pepper dip.

2) Lime & Pepper Dip

INGREDIENTS:

1 green lime, medium
1 tsp fresh crushed black peppercorns
Pinch of sugar
Pinch of salt
¼ tsp chicken seasoning powder
¼ tsp fried garlic

METHOD:
Combine ingredients and mix well. Make to order.

3) Aged Beef

(Chef Chanrith Van would not recommend doing this if you don’t have the proper equipment for it. He suggests using rib eye steak instead of ageing the beef yourself.)

INGREDIENTS:

500g fresh beef tenderloin, cut into 130g portions
Vacuum bag & sealer

METHOD:

1. Place beef in vacuum bag and seal using vacuum machine.
2. Hang beef in refrigerator at 0-2’C for 7-14 days.

4) Lok Lak Sauce

INGREDIENTS:

1 Tbsp corn oil
5g garlic clove, thinly sliced
2.5g white onion, finely chopped
0.5 tsp kampot peppercorn, crushed
10g palm sugar
18g oyster sauce
¼ tsp soya sauce
2 tsps tomato ketchup
¼ tsp dark (thick) soya sauce
3 Tbsps chicken stock
¼ tsp chicken seasoning powder
2 tsps extra corn oil

METHOD:

1. Over medium heat in wok, add oil, garlic and onion. Saute until golden in colour.
2. Add black crushed pepper and palm sugar; cook until sugar is caramelised and golden in colour.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer; finish with oil, then cool down. Shelf life 6 days.

* Substitute palm sugar with white sugar if unavailable

My Wok Around Asia Siem Reap trip was made possible through the support of the following –

The post How to Cook Khmer Beef Lok Lak first appeared on Jackie M..

Onde-Onde Recipe

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups glutinous rice flour
• Water to make a soft, non-tacky dough
• 1 tsp each blue butterfly powder, rosella powder and matcha powder
• 1 cup desiccated coconut
• 100g dark brown palm sugar, grated
• Water for boiling the dumplings

METHOD:

1. Gradually add water to the glutinous rice flour while mixing it by hand, until you get a soft, non-tacky mixture.
2. Split into 3 batches, fold in the blue butterfly powder, rosella powder and matcha powder respectively, and knead for a minute or two.
3. Start heating up some water in a pot.
4. Roll up the grated palm sugar into marble-sized balls.
5. Pinch the dough and roll into balls about 2cm in diameter.
6. Stuff the dough with the palm sugar, seal, then drop into boiling pot of water.
7. Repeat, making sure the onde-onde balls don’t get stuck on the bottom of the pot.
8. Remove with slotted spoon when balls float to the top and remain there for at least 20 seconds.
9. Transfer into bowl with desiccated coconut and toss.
10. Remove and allow to cool slightly before serving.

The post How to Make Colourful Onde-Onde first appeared on Jackie M..

I cooked the sticky rice by adding a bit more water than you would for white rice, then set the pressure cooker on the “porridge” setting and it worked beautifully.

I first encountered sticky rice cooked with durian and palm sugar at an expo in Kuala Lumpur on the culinary offerings of Pahang. I forget what it’s called, and a google search of pulut (sticky rice) + durian yields nothing that looks like what I ate, so you’ll have to take my word for it that this dish does in fact exist. Absent palm sugar, just use white sugar to yield an equally delicious (I’m guessing; haven’t tried it) result.

Durian with Palm Sugar and Sticky Rice

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups sticky rice (cooked as per regular rice but with a bit more water, plus pinch of salt)
• 2 pieces durian, seeds removed
• 2 Tbsp white sugar
• 50g palm sugar
• ⅓ cup coconut cream

METHOD:

1. Combine all ingredients in a non-stick pan.
2. Mix well, then bring to a low simmer.
3. Cook until mixture is semi-dry and a sticky consistency.
4. Allow to cool, then serve.

Sticky Rice with Serunding

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups sticky rice, cooked per above

• 2 cups desiccated coconut
• ½ onion, minced
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 Tbsps minced lemongrass
• 3 Tbsps curry powder
• 2 Tbsps mushroom seasoning
• 1 tsp salt
• 3-4 Tbsps sugar
• 3 Tbsps oil

• Japanese seaweed sheets

METHOD:

1. Combine onion, garlic, lemongrass and curry powder in a non-stick pan.
2. Fry on low heat to remove some of the moisture from the onion.
3. Add oil and fry until spice paste is lightly browned.
4. Add all other ingredients, mix well and cook a further 5 minutes.
5. Adjust seasoning, remove from heat and allow to cool.
6. To assemble, place 2 Tbsps sticky rice on seaweed sheet.
7. Flatten into a rectangular shape, then place 2 tsps serunding along the length of the sticky rice and roll up.
8. Cut into sushi-sized pieces before serving.
9. Alternatively, roll sticky rice into balls and coat with serunding before serving.

*** I used an Optimum Induction Pressure-Cook Pro for the Sticky Rice recipes in this post. More details on this appliance can be found at Prestige Home Appliances.

The post How to Use Glutinous (Sticky) Rice – 2 Vegan Recipes first appeared on Jackie M..