In the North of Vietnam I found a lot of dishes which were fragrant with the reedy scent of lemongrass. When we were in Halong Bay every meal was 6-7 courses of seafood, and every second course seemed to have lemongrass in it. I knew that on my return to Vancouver lemongrass would need to be a more regular staple in my pantry, here is the first – a grilled lemongrass steak recipe.
The marinade for this grilled flank steak is very much inspired by Bun Thit Noung, or Vietnamese grilled pork. However, usually with this recipe you use a strong and very sweet dark soy sauce to create a thick caramelization on the meat which I decided might over power the flavour of the steak.
Grilled Lemongrass Beef Recipe
(2-4 servings)Combine the lemongrass, garlic, fish sauce, sesame oil scallions, pepper, sugar and chili in a blender or large mortar and pestle. Pulverize until well combined but still chunky. Place the steak and marinade in a ziploc or marinating container. Seal and allow to marinate at room temperature for an hour or in the fridge for 4-8 hours.
Before grilling allow to meat to come to room temperature first. Preheat you grill to high and remove from marinade. Grill over high heat flipping regularly until medium rare - about 5 minutes. Allow to rest for 5-8 minutes before slicing and eating.


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Katrina,
Just checking to see if you’ve posted who won the “Kitchen Aid Food Processor Giveaway”. A great Christmas present to whoever it was! Thanks for the giveaway.
Your recipes look amazing. I’ll have to get back in the kitchen.
Regards, Sarah H.
swak50 at hotmail dot com
Yup, winner was announced on Thursday, posted on the contest page and the winner was contacted.