While in Denver, we had dinner at Kim Ba, in Aurora.

On the advice of the chef, we had Bo Xao Dam, described as “Strips of tender beef in wine vinaigrette sauce, served on a bed of lettuce, tomatoes and onion“.

Now, Seattle is sadly lacking in Vietnamese restaurants. Pho aplenty, but no non-Pho restaurants. So on our return, I started checking my collection of Vietnamese cookbooks.

Nothing.

Bupkes.

Ugatz.

Fortunately, it turns out that it isn’t a complex recipe to duplicate.

Ingredients
One or two large shallots, diced
8-10 oz of sliced flank steak
2 TBS White Wine
2 TBS Fish Sauce
2 TBS Balsamic Vinegar
2 TBS Sugar or Splenda
2 TBS Butter
One sliced tomato
Lettuce leaves

Instructions
Combine the wine, fish sauce, vinegar, and sweetener, and set aside.

Slice the tomato and place the lettuce leaves and the tomato slices on a serving platter.

Get a non-stick pan hot. If you use something other than nonstick, you will need to use additional oil. Add the shallots, and when they have just started to brown (or sooner, if you are using frozen sliced beef), add the beef. When the beef is seared on both sides, add the vinegar/wine/sweetener mixture, and blend it in well. When the liquid has reduced by approximately a quarter, add the butter, and stir it in to mount up the sauce. Pour the results over the serving platter, and serve with rice.

Update: Expect to see an updated version of this recipe soon, because the sugar is not necessary in the slightest, and you’ll want more liquid for the sauce.

Some of my more recent recipes for fresh sausage. Note that all of these really require Ruhlman and Polcyn’s brilliant Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing, and are incomplete if you don’t already know how to make sausage.

Please note that all of the recipes assume that you are making five pounds of sausage.

Rosemary Maple Breakfast Sausage
A fresh sweet and savory sausage that works well in formed patties

Ingredients
Six 6″ sprigs of Rosemary
1/4 cup of Maple Syrup
Applewood Smoked Sea Salt

Instructions
Strip the Rosemary from the sprigs, and add it to the pork and fat. Use Applewood Smoked Sea Salt for the salt in the recipe. Add 3/4 of a cup of nearly boiling water to the Maple Syrup, and then set aside to cool for use as the bind liquid.

Cumin Porter Sausage
A fresh savory sausage that works best as links

Ingredients
1/2 cup of Cumin Seeds
Hawaiian Salt
1 cup of Porter

Instructions
Toast the Cumin seeds in a small pan, and add them to the pork and fat. Use the Hawaian Salt for the salt in the recipe. Use the Porter as the bind liquid.

Jerked Sausage
A savory sausage that works best as links, and is nitrated to allow for safe smoking

Ingredients
1 TBS Jamaican Allspice
2 Chipotle Peppers
1 Pimento Leaf
~3 TBS of fresh Thyme (stripped from the stems)
30g of Fresh Ginger (peeled)
20g of Raw Sugar
6g Pink Salt
Hawaiian Salt
1/4 cup Rum

Instructions
Cut the stem out of the center of the Pimento leaf, and strip the stems off of the peppers. Using a mortar and pestle, powder the allspice, peppers, and pimento leaf. Add in the thyme, and work that in with the pestle. Slice the ginger, and add it to the mortar and work it in with the pestle. Add the raw sugar, and work that in with the pestle. Add the spice mix to the meat and fat.

Use the Hawaiian salt as the salt in the recipe. Once the meat is well mixed with the spices, carefully mix in the Pink salt, and work it through the meat and fat. Add a quarter cup of water to the rum, and boil it in the Microwave for 3-4 minutes. Add sufficient water to bring the liquid up to a full cup, and chill it to use as the bind liquid.