Archive for the '(not)Recipes' Category

Grilled Betel-Leaf Wrapped Beef

Friday, 24 Apr 09

Sometimes, I envy people who follow recipes, and more importantly, can write down a recipe if asked. Mostly, this is because this is the rough method I follow when cooking – have a craving for a “something” (often either something “steak-ish” or “chocolate-ish”, though less frequently, “spicy” or “caramel-ish”), browse through foodgawker until I find something that looks tempting, and then trawl through recipes until I find one that suits me. Sure, I will alter a recipe or use it as a general guide (again, often to make it more “chocolate-ish”!), but it’s nice to have something to point to and refer back to.

Sadly, this isn’t the case when it comes to learning to cook from Mum. “Some sugar…no, a bit more…that’s enough. Now half that of salt—too much, add a little bit more sugar!” She is the master of eyeballing, which makes it difficult to blog about home cooked food, like this yummy grilled vine-wrapped beef. Mum had come across some lushly green Thai betel leaves at the local grocery store and decided to try something new.

I can tell you that in here, there is sliced beef (sliced across the grain into large-ish but thin slices), lots of pepper (I tend to be called away from study to grind it into various bowls marinating meat, one of the advantages of having daughters, I guess), sugar, and about half that of salt, lots of sesame oil, sesame seeds, oyster sauce and a generous handful of finely chopped onions and garlic. It was all mixed together, and then given to Tim and I to assemble.

This part, I can help you with. Take a nice hole-free slice of beef and place onto your gloved (or ungloved – I’m too squeamish to relinquish these oversized gloves and actually touch raw meat =_=;;) palm. Place a piece of white radish (chopped into large matchsticks) and fat (we used fat from a piece of BBQ pork, but traditionally, they use raw fat) into the centre, and roll as tightly as possible. Then take a betel leaf and roll around the beef cylinder, ensuring that there is some overlap, or else it will fall apart! Insert a soaked skewer to keep it together. Repeat, occasionally adding some fresh pineapple for variety.

Grill on a hot coal barbeque (or call Dad to go out into the cold and do it!). We have this nifty portable folding grill.

Feed the ones which fall apart due to too small a leaf to the dog while the rest of the family salivates and Christina and Tim work frantically to skewer the rest! ;)

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So they don’t look like they belong in a magazine, but that’s partially the appeal of homecooked vietnamese food (I still can’t take a decent photo of pho!><). But they taste  flavoursome and tender, with the grilled pineapple to add smoky sweet bursts of freshness. And I really do wish I had the recipe to share with you all, but that’s not the way it works at home. Don’t let that discourage you though – a little intuition and daring (and maybe a teenage daughter who should be studying to help with grinding pepper) and you’re set to go!

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Posted at 7:50 pm in (not)Recipes, Crumbs, Savouries | Respond?

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