Cambodia – Beef Lok Lak

by Dwi Lias Susanti

Do you ever think about eating a scorpion or a tarantula? Most of us may think it disgusting how a human eats something like that. But for Cambodian people eating a scorpion, tarantula, or cricket is an ordinary thing to do. And for those who seek a challenging culinary, you can visit Cambodia, where you can find this kind of food. Tourists can buy that extreme-food in a big city like Phnom Penh or another big city. But for you who seek delicious authentic food, Cambodia has several dishes to serve tourists who visit their country. To increase your appetite when visiting Cambodia, Lok Lak is the first choice.

Lok Lak is a sautéed beef mix with herbs and vegetables. Dice cut beef seasoned with salty soy sauce and pepper. Lok Lak was inspired by France’s dish when they colonialized the Southeast Asian country many years ago. Lok Lak means shaky beef or stirs fried beef. The Cambodian serve Lok Lak on a sheet of lettuce, sliced cucumber, and black pepper. Lok Lak becomes a special dish in a marriage ceremony or other feast day. No need to worry when eating Lok Lak, all the ingredient is edible for anyone. 

You need to prepare two kinds of a dish when cooking Lok Lak. The Lok Lak and the dipping sauce made of lime juice mix. You can imagine it spicy, savory, and fresh taste when eating Lok Lak. When you want to taste Lok Lak but do not have time to Cambodia, you can cook it in your own home. There weren’t any special ingredient or spice to cook Lok Lak, but if you want to get an authentic Cambodia taste, you need to prepare Kampot black pepper or buy it in a supermarket near your residence. Follow this recipe to have the nearest taste from the original one. 

Soup ingredient

• 300-gram beef cut diced 
• ¼ cup of salty soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon tomato sauce
• 3 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon black pepper (Kampot pepper)
• 2 clove garlic, finely chopped.

Sautéed ingredient

• 2 tablespoon cooking oil
• Water

Dipping sauce Ingredient

• 1 piece of lime, squeeze to get the juice. Keep the juice.
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 teaspoon black pepper.

Garnish ingredient

• 1 tomato, sliced
• 1 piece cucumber, salted
• One clove of shallot, finely chopped.

Dipping sauce preparation

1. Prepare a big bowl.
2. Mix the lime juice, salt, and black pepper.
3. Place in a medium ball.

How to cook

1. Mix all the soup ingredients into a big bowl.
2. Keep for 20 minutes.
3. After 20 minutes, prepare a frying pan, cook the marinated beef. Stir until smells goods.
4. Add some water, cook with a small fire for 15 minutes.
5. Adjust the taste with salt.
6. Remove and place on the serving plate.
7. Garnish with tomato, cucumber, and shallot.
8. Lok Lak ready to serve with a side of dipping sauce.