Caramelised Vietnamese Shredded Beef

This is a quick recipe that evolved to use up leftover cooked beef, such as after making stock. So I’ve used repurposed beef here but don’t worry, it can be made from scratch too!

Caramelised Vietnamese Shredded Beef

Caramelised Vietnamese Shredded Beef is a recipe that was born as a way to use up leftover cooked brisket used to make the broth for Pho soup. Leading up to publishing the recipe, I made it quite a few times and found myself with an alarming stockpile of cooked brisket in my freezer. Very easy to give away Pho take-home packs. Not so easy to give away “really tender cooked brisket, like, totally shreddable! But it doesn’t have much flavour cause it’s been sucked out into the broth.” Doesn’t sound very appetising does it?! 😂 So what do we do? We just inject a ton of Vietnamese flavours, then give it an extra wow factor by pan frying to get all those crispy golden bits!

Don’t worry if you happen not to have leftover cooked beef in your fridge. It’s VERY simple to make this from scratch.

Type of leftover cooked beef to use

This Caramelised Vietnamese Shredded Beef recipe is ideal to use with leftover beef picked off meaty bones when making broth, or large pieces of meat like brisket used in Pho or similar where the beef meat has been simmered for hours so the beef flavour leaches into the broth. It can also be made with any type of cooked beef – it doesn’t even need to be shreddable – as long as it’s relatively neutral OR Asian flavoured so the Lemongrass Sauce flavour doesn’t clash.

The idea with this recipe is to repurpose beef scraps after making stock and to transform it into something amazing!

What to do if you don’t have leftover cooked beef

Just simmer raw brisket or chuck for 2.5 – 3 hours with a few basic flavourings (onion, garlic) until it’s shreddable. We don’t need to add flavour to the beef when braising because the Lemongrass Marinade does that job. But by adding some basic flavour into the braising liquid, you will be able to use that broth for another purpose (anything that calls for beef broth!).

Vietnamese Lemongrass Marinade

The flavour added to the beef is my “go-to” Vietnamese marinade recipe. I use it to marinate whole pieces of chicken (thigh, breast, wings, drumsticks) which I serve as is, or make Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Bowls. I marinate and grill or bake chicken wings, pork chops, tofu (yes really!), or prawns/shrimp (try this Vietnamese Shrimp Salad). It’s a secret weapon marinade because of its versatility and how simple it is – just a mix of:

lemongrass – finely chopped fresh OR lazy paste garlic – plenty! sugar, fish sauce, soy sauce and lime – for classic Asian sweet/savoury/sour flavour balance

If you serve it hot off the stove then I think you’ll find you need nothing more than perhaps a quick squeeze of lime to finish it off, and a big dollop of chilli sauce or paste wouldn’t go astray either. However! If you want to really go all out, make up some Nuoc Cham, the chilli-garlic-fish sauce-lime sauce that is served with everything in Vietnam. And that’s no exaggeration! There’s tons of variations, from lighter flavours so it’s used almost like a soup such as with Bun Cha (Vietnamese Meatballs), in my Vietnamese Chicken Salad to stronger sauces used for dipping Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls. Use the Nuoc Cham dipping sauce in this Vietnamese Lemongrass Chicken recipe, it’s the version best suited for this Caramelised Vietnamese Shredded Beef.

If you make this Caramelised Vietnamese Shredded Beef to use up the beef after making Pho, you’ll love how the toppings and sides are basically the same ingredients! Lime wedges, a big pile of bean sprouts, fresh herbs (coriander/cilantro is ideal, Thai basil also fantastic, mint also great – or a combo of these). A little fresh chilli if you can handle the heat and for some extra bedazzle, a little sprinkle of peanuts. Boom. Hard to believe this bowl of amazingness is made with scrappy leftover beef from making stock, isn’t it?? ☺️ – Nagi x PS I’ve made this using leftover chicken too, such as after making homemade Chicken Noodle Soup from Scratch. It’s really terrific! Just use a touch extra oil.