Evoking the Essence…Spice Market

While dining at Spice Market, I came across a dish that was eerily familiar in its ingredients, if not recognizable by flavor. The dish was called the “Grilled Strip Steak with Garlic, Coriander, and Sesame” (you can see the review of the dish and the restaurant at Provoking the Palate). Spice Market’s own website states that the food created there was inspired by street vendors—and the recipe listed below can most definitely qualify as such. It is my humble opinion that the dish and recipe here was the inspiration behind Spice Market’s dish.

Spice Market: Grilled Strip Steak with Garlic, Coriander, and Sesame

ETE’s Twist:  Lao “Xeen Savanh”

A Little History:

“Xeen Savanh” translated means “Heaven’s beef.” This is one of Laos’ national dishes—a dish so popular, in fact, that it is present at every traditional Lao wedding (and semi-traditional ones as well). I’ve been to what seems like a thousand weddings that feature one or both couples being Lao and it is always there.

With neighboring countries adopting so many of one another’s cuisine and culture, it is no wonder that a variant of this dish is present in 3 to 4 Southeastern Asian countries, while being vigorously claimed by the countries Laos and Thailand. I don’t pretend to know which country actually has the true claim; however, I do know that Thai weddings do not feature this dish the way the Lao do. When this dish is Googled under “heavenly beef,” you’ll see that it is most often reportedly shown as being a Northern Thailand dish.

Now, historically speaking, if we go back some odd years, all of Northeastern Thailand was actually a part of the Kingdom of Laos. So the odds that this dish was born in Laos is fairly high. In fact, if you eat at a Thai restaurant and find a dish that is from Northern Thailand, chances that it is actually a Lao dish is a pretty fair deduction.

This is usually enjoyed with “sticky rice” (steamed sweet glutinous rice). There is no debate here—what is commonly referred to at Thai restaurants as “sticky rice” is a Lao staple dish. Only in Laos is this dish enjoyed with every meal (other Asian countries usually use sweet glutinous rice for desserts).

RECIPE:

1 ½ – 2 lbs. of bottom round center cut beef

½ cup Whole Coriander

¼ cup and 2 tbl Sugar

1 tsp. Kosher Salt

2 tsp. Soy Sauce (preferably Thai, not Japanese)

1 tsp. Fish Sauce

2 tbl Whole White Sesame

DIRECTIONS:

Slice the beef thinly (about 3 mm thick). Instead of pounding it out, use a rolling pin to roll it out a little after this. Place the finished meat into a large mixing bowl. In a mortar and pestle, or if you’re high tech, a food processor, coarse ground the coriander. Do not over-grind them! They should go from being whole looking to ¼ – ½ their original/whole size. Mix all ingredients carefully into the mixing bowl of meat (you don’t want the strips to rip apart). Let rest for 10 minutes.

Lay out the meat carefully onto a rack to dry in the sun (preferable). If you do not feel comfortable doing this, put your oven on bake, extremely low heat (170 deg. Fahrenheit max). Pull out the oven rack as far as it will go so that it doesn’t sit directly inside the oven. Leave the door wide open. Check on the meat after about 10 minutes to make sure it isn’t cooking but slowly drying.  Adjust the heat if necessary. Check again in 30-45 minutes. When one side is dry, flip and dry out the other side. Your beef should look relatively dry and NOT baked. Again, if it looks like it is baking, your oven is hotter than most and you need to lower the heat.

Once it is sufficiently dry, heat up the oil in a wok or a fry pan to medium/medium high. Test the heat with a small piece of beef. If it sizzles and floats up, you’re good to go. Fry until it is a nice reddish-brown color, and then drain.

I hope you enjoy the taste of traditional Lao food! Please let me know what you think. Sa-Tu!