Vietnamese Grilled Beef in Wild Betel / Piper Lolot Leaves (Bò Nướng Lá Lốt)

Vietnamese Grilled Beef in Wild Betel / Piper Lolot Leaves (Bò Nướng Lá Lốt)

Vietnamese Grilled Beef in Wild Betel / Piper Lolot Leaves (Bò Nướng Lá Lốt)

Bò Nướng Lá Lốt / Bo Nuong La Lot is a Southern Vietnamese dish of marinated ground beef wrapped in wild Betel (Piper Lolot) leaves then charcoal grilled.

The wrapped beef can either be served in a rice noodle bowl with chopped lettuce, assorted Vietnamese herbs, roasted peanuts, and a sweet and savory dipping sauce (Nuoc Mam Cham / Nước Mắm Chấm) on the side. It can too be served with rice paper for a self-associates style.

For the more adventurous, serve with a fermented dipping sauce (Mam Nem / Mắm Nêm) instead, which is my absolute favorite sauce for beefiness.

You tin can often discover this dish as role of a multi-class meal called "Beef Seven Ways" (Bo 7 Monday / Bò 7 Món).

Vietnamese Grilled Beef in Wild Betel / Piper Lolot Leaves (Bò Nướng Lá Lốt)

WHAT IS PIPER LOLOT LEAVES?

A lolot leafage is about the size of your paw. It's heart-shaped with a shiny side and a matte side. When stuffing it with fillings, put the filling on the matte side so that the sleeky side faces outward for a beautiful presentation. Once cooked, information technology has a slightly herbal and minty season.

I mistakenly used La Trau/Lá Trầu for Vietnamese Grilled Beef in Wild Betel / Piper Lolot Leaves. Oops!

I mistakenly used La Trau/Lá Trầu for Vietnamese Grilled Beef in Wild Betel / Piper Lolot Leaves. Oops!

I used the wrong leaves!

For those attempting this dish for the first time, the American eating house name for this dish is misleading. You can typically find it on the card as grilled beef in betel leaves, but information technology actually should exist called grilled beef in wild betel leaves or grilled beefiness in piper lolot leaves, or only, grilled beef in lolot leaves.

Betel leaves and wild betel leaves/piper la lot leaves are entirely unlike in taste, and I constitute that out the hard way.

Take a look at the picture below. The product is labeled betel leaves and so y'all retrieve you're getting the correct leaves. Nonetheless, the Vietnamese translation is La Trau / Lá Trầu leaves. That should have been a dead giveaway because I remember in my childhood that the elders would chew on Lá Trầu leaves.

Vietnamese elders utilize betel leaves as a wrapper for areca nut (also known as a betel nut), and slaked lime (a white or pink paste). It's chewed and and so spit out for a mild stimulant upshot. This chewing stains the teeth carmine and eventually black.

To become the correct leaves, expect for wild Betel, Piper Sarmentosum, Lolot Pepper or La Lot / Lá Lốt on the characterization.

It was an interesting and sad discovery that these leaves were the incorrect ones on my first attempt. I chucked everything in the trash, as the gustatory modality was too overpowering and medicinal for me. And no, I didn't go high…I think.

Vietnamese Grilled Beefiness in Wild Betel / Piper Lolot Leaves (Bò Nướng Lá Lốt)

What if you lot can't observe the right leaves?

No worries if you can't observe the right leaves. Wild betel leaves / Piper lolot leaves are hard to find in the states. You tin can utilize grape leaves, perilla leaves (La Tia To / Lá Tía Tô), or shiso leaves. They make excellent substitutes and are oftentimes available in many Asian/Vietnamese/Korean grocery stores. If you can't observe any of those, attempt spinach leaves. For my second attempt, I used perilla and they were succulent!

Although I used and pictured the wrong leaf, the below How-to-Wrap analogy even so holds truthful.

Recipe below. Happy wrapping and grilling!

Bò Nướng Tía Tô: Here's the second batch where I wrapped the beef in perilla leaves instead (Lá Tía Tô)

Vietnamese Grilled Beefiness in Wild Betel / Piper Lolot Leaves (Bo Nuong La Lot)

Serves 2-three

Ingredients

  • 12 oz ground fatty ground beef
  • 2 tablespoons finely minced shallots
  • 1 tablespoon finely minced garlic
  • ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
  • ½ teaspoon sugar
  • 2 teaspoons fish sauce
  • 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
  • ½ teaspoon craven burgoo powder
  • ¼ teaspoon MSG (optional)
  • 25-30 wild betel/pepper lolot leaves or whatever of its substitutes
  • Sauces

  • Vietnamese Fish Sauce Dipping Sauce (Nuoc Mam Cham / Nước Mắm Chấm)
  • Vietnamese Fermented Anchovy Dipping Sauce (Mam Nem / Mắm Nêm)

Instructions

  1. Rinse the leaves thoroughly and pat dry out with paper towels. Leave a small piece of stem intact to secure the rolls. Alternatively, utilize a toothpick for each curl or long skewers to secure a bunch at a time.
  2. In a large bowl, mix together ground beef with shallots, garlic, black pepper, sugar, fish sauce, oyster, chicken bouillon powder, and MSG (optional).
  3. Lay leafage flat with sleeky side face down and narrow end at the bottom. Put most 2 tablespoons of filling in the center of the leaf, more or less depending on the size of the leaf. Fold the narrow end over the filling, then carefully roll up. Pierce the stem into the gyre to forestall information technology from unraveling. If the stem is besides flimsy, pierce a hole in the roll with a minor pocketknife so insert the stem. Lay roll apartment with stem-side downwardly. Echo the process with the remaining leaves and beef mixture.
  4. Grill the rolls to get a smokey flavor or pan fry with a chip of vegetable oil for about 2 minutes per side.
  5. Serve the rolls in a basin with thin rice noodles, chopped lettuce, contrasted Vietnamese herbs, and topped with roasted peanuts and a Vietnamese fish sauce dipping sauce. For the more than adventurous, serve with an culling Vietnamese fermented anchovy dipping sauce. You lot can also serve the rolls with rice paper on the side for a more cocky-assembly dish.

How to wrap Vietnamese Grilled Beef in Wild Betel / Piper Lolot Leaves (Bò Nướng Lá Lốt)

How to wrap Vietnamese Grilled Beef in Wild Betel / Piper Lolot Leaves (Bò Nướng Lá Lốt)

CHECK OUT THESE OTHER BEEF RECIPES

beef, Grilled

Vietnamese Grilled Beef in Wild Betel Leaves, Vietnamese Grilled Beef in Piper Lolot Leaves, Bo Nuong La Lot recipe, bo nuong la lot, Bò Nướng Lá Lốt, bo cuon la lot, Bò Cuốn Lá Lốt, Vietnamese grilled beefiness recipe, Vietnamese bo la lot recipe, beefiness, grilled, which leaves to use in Bo Nuong La Lot, grape leaves, grape leaf, la lot leaves, piper lolot leaves, betel leaves, wild betel leaves, Piper Sarmentosum, Lolot Pepper, Lolot Pepper leaves, Lá Lốt, incorrect leaf for bo nuong la lot, bo nướng la lot recipe, bo nuong la lot recipe, bo la lot recipe, Bò Nướng Tía Tô, bo nuong tia to, Vietnamese beef wrapped in perilla leaves, perilla leaves

4 Comments