I received a request for a Vietnamese beef jerky recipe earlier this summer. Funny that the writer mentioned thit kho bo (“teet koh bo-AH”) because I was thinking about how hard it is for find good Asian beef jerky. I love jerky because the flavors develop and release in your mouth as you chew. It's dried but has an organic quality in your mouth.
At Chinese markets, I’m bewildered by the choices and spend too much time figuring out the difference between beef, pork and fruit flavored jerky. In Vietnamese strongholds such as Orange County’s Little Saigon, there are shops such as Vua Kho Bo (“King of Beef Jerky”) that specialize in beef jerky. At Vietnamese markets, there's usually wispy slices of jerky in plastic bags up at the cash register but you don't know how fresh it is or who made it.
Then I remembered meeting Chef Son Giang of Vien Dong restaurant in Little Saigon and chatting about how he made his own in the oven. My late uncle, Bac Thao (my father’s older brother), made jerky in the oven too. Pondering those two men and their jerky, I thought I’d make some myself. My fantasy Vietnamese beef jerky has a slight chile heat, lilting sweetness, savory umami depth, and a lemongrass back note.
The recipe below is combines all the elements I fantasized about. It is terribly easy to make and affordable too. Had I realized all that, I’d made Viet beef jerky a long time ago! On my first try, I used flank which was full of beefy goodness but hard to thinly slice. At the Chinese market butcher counter, the cut I needed stared me right in the face: rump. It’s not fatty, is easy to thinly cut, and is tough – the kind of meat you want to make jerky out of. After all, jerky is chewy preserved meat, right? A rump roast is inexpensive (about $4.00 a pound) and available at any regular supermarket. I froze it for about 45 minutes while I was outside sealing my patio. This is my way of multi-tasking. You get a 50 percent yield so 2 pounds of beef produces 1 pound of jerky. The investment is less than $10 for a pound of amazing beef jerky.
Beyond that, the rest is a no-brainer. Marinate for 1 hour, then bake on a rack for about 1 hour at a moderately-low heat. That’s it. You’ve got Vietnamese beef jerky for noshing or adding to a northern-style Vietnamese green papaya salad. Give it a whirl.
RECIPE
Lemongrass and Chile Beef Jerky Recipe
Thit Kho Bo
Feel free to tinker with the marinade. Add 1 to 2 teaspoons of curry powder instead of lemongrass, for example. Just remember tweak the seasoning BEFORE adding the raw meat.
Makes 1 pound
2 pounds beef rump or bottom sirloin roast
6 to 8 Thai chiles, chopped
1 large stalk lemongrass, trimmed, halved lengthwise and cut into super thin half circles (⅓ cup total)
⅓ cup lightly packed light brown or brown sugar
About 2 ½ tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoon light (regular) soy sauce
1 tablespoons dark (thick) soy sauce
1. To make the beef easier to cut, freeze it for about 45 minutes, until firm. Use a sharp knife to cut thin pieces, each a scant ⅛-inch thick. Cut across the grain to get tender results. Transfer to a pan or bowl. Set aside.
2. For the marinade, put the chiles, lemongrass, and sugar in a mini food processor. Chop and/or grind to a fine texture. Add the fish sauce and both kinds of soy sauce, and process to blend well. Taste. You should be able to distinguish the lemongrass and chile in the savory-sweet sauce. Add a little fish sauce should you need extra depth.
3. If the meat has wept juices, pour them out. Then pour in the marinade. Use your hands to ensure that each piece is coated on both sides. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside to marinate for 1 to 1 ½ hours.
4. Position 2 racks in the upper and lower third of the oven and preheat to 300F. Line two baking sheets with foil, spreading the foil out beyond the rim of the baking sheet like wings to support dangling pieces of beef. Put 1 or 2 racks atop the foil in each baking sheet. I have 2 racks on 1 sheet and 1 on the other. Aim to elevate the beef as much as possible.
5. Arrange the beef flat atop the racks. They can touch but try not to overlap them much. I often let some of the piece to extend beyond the rack onto the foil.
This beef is in the raw state. Array the pieces close to each other.
6. Bake for about 1 hour, until the beef is a dark reddish brown and they have shrunk by about 50 percent of original size. They should be slightly flexible when done; if they’re crisp and dark brown, you have gone too far. Feel free to the pieces midway, though I find it unnecessary.
Look at the shrinkage in the beef jerky!
7. Transfer to zip-top bags or airtight containers to store. Refrigerate and return to room temperature before using. I just made the jerky and venture that they can keep for a good month, at least!
Note:
I like to nosh on the jerky with some pickled daikon and carrot (do chua) for a tangy-sweet contrast.
My dad (Bo Gia, old daddy) read this post and emailed his family's old recipe for venison jerky:
Remember that Ong Ba Noi [grandpa and grandma] made Thit Nai Kho [venison jerky] whenever Ong Noi got a deer. Later on Bac Thao made Bo Kho with beef. Our family used nuoc mam [fish sauce], gung [ginger], and duong [sugar] to marinate the meat and then slowly dried it over charcoal. The finished slice was about ¼ in and we kept in a jar. It was kind of chewey but taste really good. It did not look red, but kind of dark, and could be kept for a pretty long time because of salty Nuoc Mam. We kept it for a long time. Venison jerky is something to make if you are a hunter. Try it if you have time!
Ideas for using all that beef jerky: top a grilled pizza with Vietnamese jerky or make a northern Viet classic of green papaya salad with beef jerky.
Tuty says
Oh thank you so much for sharing this recipe.... I miss Javanese sweet beef jerky.. (ours has coarsely ground coriander and no lemon grass flavor). I ought to try your recipe first 😉
Vi L. says
Thank for this wonderful recipe. I remember at home my mom usually bought two kinds of beef jerky called "kho bo uot" (juicy style) and "kho bo kho^"(dried style). I definitely try this recipe this weekend !
Andrea Nguyen says
Tuty, I bet you can tweak this recipe for your Javanese recipe by using kecap manis and salt instead of fish sauce and soy sauce. Also use some gula jawa?
Vi, this is kho bo kho -- dry style. For the juicy style, I'd cut the beef thicker and maybe use some kind of tenderize like fruit juice (pineapple?).
You both better report back on your jerky efforts!
Anh says
Thanks for the recipe, Andrea! I will be trying for sure.
And I cannot wait until your book arrives to my door!
Binh says
Do you recall a type of kho bo which is crunchy and dusted with a yellow powder? How do you figure they get it that crunchy?
Andrea Nguyen says
No, I don't Binh. Yellow powder? What did it taste like?
If you slice the meat thin enough (1/16 inch thick, use a deli slicer), it will get crispy. The beef is just drying out and become paper like. Well, tasty paper like. Wonder if they brushed on some oil too so then the beef kind of fries.
Binh says
Now that I come to think of it, the yellow powder probably is curry powder. These can be found at Vua Kho Bo. They are thicker (more than 1/8") and they are crunchy - break apart easily. I'm thinking they may leave it in the heat longer so it's really dried out.
Binh says
These would be really good on top of shredded green papaya too. I shall attempt this asap. Thank you for the recipe.
Andrea Nguyen says
That's exactly what I was thinking -- a green papaya salad made with homemade jerky. It's on my list. I actually first made the jerky for my mom's birthday and we used it for the salad. Delicious.
Thanks for the curry note.
Lien Huong says
If you live near Aian Market, you can ask the butcher to slice the beef for you and is FREE. Stater Bros Market also do it for you
Thank you for the recipe
Jim says
Thanks for this recipe. Going to make some and take it on a hike in the Cascades tomorrow. Btw, both Winco and our local Mexican "carnicerias" carry this cut of beef,which can be purchased both whole and already sliced, for "carnee asada." Question. What about using a little Maggi in the marinade for depth? And, if using palm sugar, is the amount identical to brown sugar?
Andrea Nguyen says
Lien -- thanks for the tip on both the Asian market and Stater Brothers!
Jim -- You could use Maggi Seasoning sauce but taste it as you go along. One person reported on the VWK fan page that she made it with Maggi and her young son loved it. As for the palm sugar, use the same amount but taste it after dissolving to make sure. Palm sugars have varying levels of sweetness. Glad to know that the jerky is going to the Cascades to keep you energized!
Thang says
Had the best Canh Chua tonight in Sydney http://www.thangblog.com/2009/08/vietnamese-dinner.html
Jim says
An update. I made the recipe for "ko bo uot",and used rump roast from Winco ($2.29/ lb.) already sliced in 1/4 inch size. All ingredients were as stated, but I added about a half cup pineapple to the mini Cuise, and also added less than a teaspoon of Asian style Maggi. I rotated the pans halfway thru the time period for even cooking. It turned out great, slightly juicy and with great flavors. This is a good, quick jerky recipe. Thanks!
Andrea Nguyen says
Jim -- Whoa! Excellent idea and report on making juicy beef jerky (kho bo uot). Binh, if you're reading this, the pineapple juice is an optional tenderizer.
My father's note on using ginger would work too, I suppose. Maybe combine the pineapple juice with ginger?
Thang -- Don't see the relevance of your comment here, which is a basically soft spamming. We'd love to get your thoughts on kho bo, but please refrain from highlight your work unless it has some relevance. Thanks.
Binh says
Pineapple juice works great as a tenderizer, but I *think* that only fresh pineapple juice works. Canned pineapple won't work at all. The bromelain enzyme gets destroyed in the canning process. That's a great idea, however, to make the jerky less chewy. Thank you.
Andrea Nguyen says
Binh -- I don't know if you're right but you may be. What about all that pineapple juice that pools from freshly cut pineapple. This may be a use for it!
Another great tenderizer is ginger juice. Grate a about 1 inch of ginger and then press it through a fine mesh strainer. Or just use grated ginger and don't press for juice. Koreans use grated Asian pear and sometimes Kiwi fruit too.
Joel says
Thanks Andrea, I feel like it is another "I learn something new every day" moment as I had no idea Vietnamese have dried meat jerky recipes! Mots other Asian meat jerky recipes seem to be the works of Chinese migrants and originate from China.
The most famous jerky-making region in China is the Fujian (or Hokkien in older Amoy dialect) province, and it in turn gave birth to the meat jerky recipes in Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia. Teochew region in Guangdong is culturally tied to Fujian and it was the Teochewese migrants who brought Chinese-style food to Thailand. (Aside: interestingly, the Cantonese regions do have meat jerky recipes, but we don't eat them in our family because most of these vendors have either added tons of preservatives or produced the jerky in such a way that a date with the public hospital is certain fact after eating them)
Usually in Chinese recipes, you may encounter a type of beef jerky described as "beef jerky made with fruit juice". I was assuming the term "fruit juice" means something like fresh orange juice, until I found that the term "fruit juice" is in fact scented water made with dried tangerine peel and water. Presumably the tangerine peel balances the raw "heat" from beef and makes it balanced according to food medicine principles.
Andrea Nguyen says
Joel, Great to hear from you! Better yet, I love the history that you've provided on Chinese jerky. I've often wondered what the 'fruit juice' was in the jerky sold at Chinese markets. The tangerine peel makes sense as a balancer, particularly because the Chinese palate doesn't always enjoy the flavor of beef. It's sometimes sticky too, maybe from sugar.
Yikes, sorry to hear about the commercially made Cantonese jerky being such a jerk to the human body. Asian food producers need to get off the crud. That's terrible. Perhaps it's time for you to make jerky for your family.
Beef Jerky says
Thank you so much for that post. It opened my eyes to new aspects of Beef Jerky, I never even knew Vietnam had their own version of my favorite snack food.
Oh yeah, I added a link to this page from my website.
Duyen Nguyen says
"crunchy and dusted with a yellow powder" is made from turmeric.
Duyen Nguyen says
Thanks so much for your recipe. I tried it yesterday and here is the "finished product"
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=158269&id=699089310&saved#!/photo.php?pid=3558090&id=699089310
Kathy says
Thanks for the recipe! I'm excited to try it out this weekend. I do have one little concern. I've read that in making home-made beef jerky, you have to make sure that you cook the beef at least to 160 degrees before you can start the drying process to make sure that you kill all of the bacteria on the meat. The other recipes that I've seen use a food dehydrator at 145 to 150 degrees, but since your recipe uses the oven at 300 degrees for the drying process, I assume that the meat will reach at least 160 degrees before it starts drying out, so it should be perfectly safe, right? What do you think?
Andrea Nguyen says
Kathy -- that's correct. The 300 temp will take care of bacteria! Enjoy.
TUYEN PHAM says
We have over 1,ooo water buffaloes. anyone reading this have any recipes involving water buffalo please kindly respond. thank you
TUYEN PHAM says
I think i am going to follow the recipe for jerky, but use water buffalo instead of cow. I'll let you all know how it turns out.
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letran says
Thank you for the recipe! I will definitely give this a try. Do you think this will also work with cuttlefish?
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Burning O says
Hello Everyone,
Here is the best asian flavor beef jerky you will ever taste. It is VERY SPICY yet flavorful. 4oz is only $10 and there is FREE SHIPPING! Please check out the review at http://iloveitspicy.com/2011/01/12/review-burning-o-jerky
http://www.burning-o.com
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malu engalla says
Wow, i just spent a coupla hours on the weekend researching jerky recipes .. thank you, Andrea! .. what if i used pork instead of beef?
Burning O, i just ordered a sampler .. thx!
Tuyen Pham, do you make fresh cheese from your water buffalos' milk? .. one of my best taste memories from living in the philippines as a child was eating this cheese we called kesong puti on hot toasted bread buns called pan de sal.
The cheese came in small blocks wrapped in banana leaves - the packets soaked in water, i think .. much like fresh mozzarella balls here.
Wendy says
This is easier with the oven instead of using a machine. Where can I find an Asian market that will slice the beef for me? Stater Brothers is far away from me. Thanks.
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Lucy says
Thank you sooooo much, I've tried all different techniques but yours is so far the best and easiest ways to make the beautiful beef jerky. Once again thank you for sharing 🙂
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Lan says
Many Thanks and Regards for Your bò khô recipe, it is complete and pictures mades it easy to follow, it is also my favorites of all times.
Lan Nguyen says
With Viet World Bo Kho receipe, I did follow it, then I changed it as follows: 1. I changed amount of wine, 6 lbs for 1 cup of red wine, 2. I used salt instead of fish sauce, 3. I put beef in a container and grilled it in 3-4 days whenever I have time, and I drained the juice coming out the beef in the container whenever the juice coming out, after 2-3 days, no more juice coming out of the beef, and the beef look dry, 4. I can have a variety of flavors each time I grill (each batch), honey flavor, smoked barbecue flavor, sesame barbecue flavor (with olive oil or sesame oil and sesame seeds), xa-xiu flavor, and all flavors came out of the sauce bottle make kho bo in "wet" version, no longer in "dry" version, 5. I want to make "curry" version of kho bo, I don't know how yet, anyone has an idea? 6. I put slides of flavored raw beef slides on rack over the aluminum baking sheet covered with aluminum foil (so I can re-use the aluminum baking sheet many many times), and put the rack in 200 degrees oven for 1 hour (set timer), crack open the oven, then turn the beef jerky side, and set the timer another hour, it is ready to eat after 2 hours, however, you can have it drier, or wetter (juicier) to eat by changing time in the oven, from 2 hours to more or less, average time is 2 hours, 200 degrees or 250 degrees, or 100 degrees, it does not matter, it just makes time in oven longer or shorter, as long as not over 250 degrees, my choice is 200 degrees, and 1 hour for each side of the raw flavored beef side.
Many Thanks and Regards to Viet World
Lan Nguyen says
Don't forget to add hot pepper or tobasco hot sauce to the barbue sauce mixed when you dip beef slide into mixed sauce (supermarket barbecue sauce from the bottle, olive or sesame oil, hot sauce of your choice, sesame seeds, honey, etc) if you are a hot chili lover like me.
Lan Nguyen
Lan says
3. I put beef in a container and put the beef container in refrigerator, so I don't have to grill the 6 lbs beef in one time, I can grill it in 3-4 days when I have time, and I drained the juice coming out the beef in the container whenever I saw the juice in the container, after 2-3 days, no more juice coming out of the beef, and the beef look dry, the refrigerator, and the beef seasoned with wine and salt make the beef is still fresh in 3-4 days.
Lan Nguyen
Quynh says
Andrea, do you know how to make these kinds of beef jerky?
http://oi53.tinypic.com/23j4cxy.jpg
and/or
http://oi55.tinypic.com/sgn769.jpg
Both are sweet and spicy but it's really good. It's also hard to find at local Asian markets.
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marlon says
Thanks for the recipe! I'm excited to try it out this weekend. I do have one little concern.
vietbac says
Nice.I like it tastes!