Gỏi Bắp Cải, Vietnamese Cabbage Slaw with Lemongrass Bear Steak
Nhậu is the Vietnamese term for drinking with friends. The word's literal translation means "together" but has evolved to a concept of sharing good food and drink with good company. Gathering around the table to start the celebrations, you'll always see a few essential dishes, and one of them is a cold crisp slaw. The base consists of a variation or mixture of cabbage, green papaya, and cucumber. Layered into the salad are fresh herbs and a fish sauce dressing.
This recipe came about for my father. He was visiting for a week and loved to sample all of Vancouver's vast IPA selection. To compliment the strong beer, I felt the obvious thing to do was thinly slice lemongrass bear steak leftovers and mix it into a fresh slaw with some fried shallots, roasted peanuts, and mint. It was a hit because he requested the same lunch the next day.
If you are using bear meat, thinly sliced as possible to ensure it reaches safe consumption temperature is vital when using potentially trichinosis-infected game. The bear steak isn't essential, although I highly recommend using the marinade for other wild game. The lemongrass is excellent at minimizing strong-tasting meat from a rutting deer or mature goat.
This salad is also excellent on its own or paired with fried eggs, poached chicken, duck breast, and grilled pork chops. At Chasing Food, we always encourage you to use what's in your kitchen and cook from the heart.
Gỏi Bắp Cải, Vietnamese Cabbage Slaw with Lemongrass Bear Steak
Ingredients
Instructions
- Marinade steak - In a large bowl, mix all the steak marinade ingredients: garlic, shallot, lemongrass, ground black pepper, soy sauce, ABC sweet soy sauce, fish sauce, and grapeseed oil. Add in steaks and let it marinate for at least 30 minutes; overnight is best. If using a bear, slice thin first then add to marinade.
- Crispy shallot oil - Add the sliced shallot and enough oil to coat the shallots in a cold saucepot. Turn on heat to medium, occasionally stir until crisp. Keep a close eye on this because it can quickly go from lightly brown to brunt.
- Roasted Peanuts - while you work on the shallots, get a pan on medium heat, add in the peanuts and occasionally stir until they get some colour on them. Take them off the heat and give them a few pounds in the pestle to crush them roughly. Alternatively, pour cooled-down peanuts into a zip lock bag and smash them with a rolling pin.
- Cabbage slaw mix - Shred and mix cabbage, carrots, cilantro, and mint. Add into a large bowl, toss and set aside.
- Salad dressing - In a jar, mix sugar in warm water until dissolved, and add in the rest of the ingredients lime juice, fish sauce, Japanese rice vinegar, minced garlic and Thai chili. Taste and adjust. Be mindful that the longer it sits the flavours will mellow out.
- Cook steaks - Many ways to fire steaks, but the easiest would be a cast-iron man with some grapeseed oil. If using bear steaks, to avoid trichinosis, lay the sliced steak in a single layer in a hot pan. Be patient giving each side a good sear and using a meat thermometer (instant reads ones are best), look for at least 160°F. Let the seared meat cool off on a plate for at least 10 minutes.
- Assemble and Serve - Right before serving, toss cabbage slaw, with half of the crushed roasted peanuts and crispy shallots with salad dressing. Gently fold in the steak and any juices that have run off from the steak. Arrange the salad on a large plate or individual servings and top with the rest of the peanuts and shallots.
