Bap Bo Ngam Mam (Beef Shank Cured in Sweet Fish Sauce), Made with Monk Fruit Sweetener
Vietnamese dishesBoiled DishesNorthern Vietnam30 minutes to prepare, 2 to 3 weeks to cure
Beef shank cured in fish sauce is worth the wait for the firm slices with their grain showing clearly. The hard part is keeping the jar spotless through the 2 to 3 weeks of curing. The shank is tied with string before boiling, which firms it up so the slices hold together.
Straight out of the pot it goes into a bowl of iced water, which tightens the fibers and gives a crisper bite. The curing liquid is cooked from 300ml of good fish sauce with 200ml of water and must cool completely before it goes into the jar. Sliced thin, a 1kg piece is eaten a little at a time.
This batch weighs about 1.8kg, at roughly 88 calories per 100g.
Method
Wash 1kg of beef shank well, trim off the excess sinew and fat, then tie it into a round with string so the meat firms up.
Strip the old leaves from the lemongrass, bruise it, and cut it into long pieces. Scrape the ginger and bruise it. Peel the garlic and leave the cloves whole. Peel the shallots and leave them whole.
Bring a pot of water to the boil with 20g of ginger, 20g of lemongrass, half the shallots, 5g of black cardamom, 5g of cinnamon, 5g of star anise, 9g of kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, and 5g of seasoning salt. Add the beef shank, and once the water boils, lower to medium heat and cook 35 to 45 minutes. Lift it straight into a bowl of iced water, then drain.
Cook the curing liquid in a small pot: bring 200ml of water to a boil, stir in 180g of kOBE Monk Fruit Blend until dissolved, pour in 300ml of good fish sauce, bring back to a boil, then turn off the heat and let it cool completely.
Pat the shank dry, cut off the string, and cut it into 4 pieces.
Pack the meat into a sterilized, dry glass jar with 20g of garlic, 5g of fresh chili, the rest of the shallots, and 3g of white peppercorn. Pour the fish sauce mixture over and use a bamboo stick to hold the meat under the surface. It is ready after about 2 weeks.
Tips
The jar has to be glass, sterilized, and wiped completely dry.
The meat must stay under the fish sauce, since any part left exposed molds quickly.
A full 2 to 3 weeks lets the flavor go all the way through, and eating it too early tastes harshly salty.
Dropping the meat into iced water straight after boiling tightens the fibers for a crisper bite.
The fish sauce has to be completely cool before it goes into the jar, since warm liquid leaves the beef mealy and quick to spoil.
Need kOBE Monk Fruit Blend?
The recipe above is sweetened with kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, measured 1:1 like sugar. See the product page or send us a message.