Vietnamese food - African edition
In Botswana (Vumbura camp maybe), there was something called Vietnamese Shaking Beef on the menu one night. I ordered it, of course. My sessions with my Vietnamese food guru, John, had not yet introduced me to this dish, so I was keen to try it and see how the American version compared with the African.
On my return, I asked John about it. His first response was, "Never heard of it". That didn't seem right to me, so I googled the name and showed John the search results (which included a Vietnamese name). His second response was, "Oh, that. I don't consider that really Vietnamese. It's more French. Only the French and rich people could afford beef".
The two versions were not too different. The American version had smaller slices of beef that was probably marinated then sauteed (thus the "shaking" part of the name); the African version came in slightly larger pieces. The restaurant version came with a few slices of tomato and some lettuce for no apparent reason. There was rice with both. Neither version had much spice.
John likes to make a dipping sauce for the beef by mixing salt and pepper on a plate, squeezing lime juice over it, and stirring. He says this is completely optional. I found it well worth trying.
On my return, I asked John about it. His first response was, "Never heard of it". That didn't seem right to me, so I googled the name and showed John the search results (which included a Vietnamese name). His second response was, "Oh, that. I don't consider that really Vietnamese. It's more French. Only the French and rich people could afford beef".
The two versions were not too different. The American version had smaller slices of beef that was probably marinated then sauteed (thus the "shaking" part of the name); the African version came in slightly larger pieces. The restaurant version came with a few slices of tomato and some lettuce for no apparent reason. There was rice with both. Neither version had much spice.
John likes to make a dipping sauce for the beef by mixing salt and pepper on a plate, squeezing lime juice over it, and stirring. He says this is completely optional. I found it well worth trying.