Several follow-ups this week to last week, unbeknownst to me, my mother was among the folks who attended my fish sauce 101 livestream last Wednesday. I didn’t catch on my screen so she was a stealthy attendee! Mom got an email notification from Substack and clicked on the button to join. “It was so easy. Congratulations on your show!” 🥰 A mother’s love. I asked if she’d ever do one with me and she demurred.

That’s all good to know for next Wednesday, May 6, at 9am PST / 12pm EST, when my friend of Milk Street Kitchen will host me for a Substack Live. We have great chats about food, cooking, and culture; the upcoming livestream will last 45 to 60 minutes. When you get the email or app notification, hop on to watch and/or ask questions.

One thing I forgot to mention in last week’s súp măng tây (Viet asparagus soup) dispatch is that the term súp is the Vietnamization of French soupe. Viet folks consider any súp dish as special, high-end, and high-class. I presented two weeknight-friendly asparagus soup recipes to you but their silky, slinky texture and umami-laden flavors are suitable for entertaining!

Another favorite way that Viet people enjoy asparagus is in a stir-fry with beef – a luxe protein in Vietnam. In the main, the cattle in Vietnam tend to be lean and pasture raised. In the early part of the twentieth century, French colonialists ‘harvested’ lots of cows for their bifteck pleasures. They left the scraps for resourceful Viet and Chinese cooks to turn into new foods, as I wrote in the History of Pho article at my website. Steak was foreigner’s food.

Even nowadays, when Vietnam is wealthier, it’s rare for Viet people to sit down to a dinner of bít tết (beefsteak, from French bifteck) in which each person gets their own slab of tender beef cooked to their specifications. Moreover, domestically raised cattle in Vietnam tend to yield firm, lean meat because they are traditionally work animals.

That said, beef consumption is rising in Vietnam; in 2022, it was shy of 9 pounds, or 4kg per person! Here in the U.S. our annual beef consumption is approximately 50lbs per person!

If there’s a steak on the Viet table, it’s likely to be sliced up for sharing. After all, beef is expensive and in general, meat is enjoyed in small amounts.

I didn’t fully realize that until a few years ago. While I was writing my plant-forward book, Ever-Green Vietnamese, my mom shared that she only used 300 grams (10 ounces) of meat to prepare main dishes for our family. Our family of seven, was well fed, mostly on vegetables and grains, not on animal protein. It wasn’t until we arrived in America in 1975 that we’d have steak dinners on a weekly basis; and even so, we served it sliced up to divvy up and easily manage with chopsticks at the table.

Wanting to stretch the asparagus season and do a twist on a Viet classic, I made a delicious beef and asparagus stir-fry recipe. You don’t have to use fancy expensive steak to yield excellent results.

The marinade and seasoning employed yields tender, super flavorful results. In the recipe and video below, I’ll share how I pull certain levers to render small pieces of beef into supple flavorful morsels packing potent flavors. There are also certain techniques I use to ensure the asparagus express their best crispness and color.

With lots of asparagus on hand, I prepared a rendition with shrimp. The flavors and texture were wowza terrific. Rory gobbled it up and said it was somewhat lobster-ish, which he never ever said about a cheffy asparagus and shrimp stir-fry I used to make.

Beef or shrimp? It was hard to decide which is better so I’m offering you both this week. Below you’ll find:

• Beef and Asparagus Stir-Fry + Shrimp and Asparagus Stir-Fry recipes in text and downloadable PDF

• A how-to video to help you craft great stir-fries

• What to look for in beef and shrimp that will stir-fry well

• Ingredient swaps galore + advance prep tips too

Stir-fry both for a surf-and-turf feast that celebrates the season.

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