Vietnamese beef wrapped in wild betal leaves – Bò Lá Lốt

Believe it or not, these rolls of beef are just one course in a Vietnamese feast of 7 courses of beef. It’s a carnivores delight & beef heaven and to partake in such a indulgent event. So we decided to take it easy on the dojo members and make just this one course, beef wrapped in betal leaves for a potluck appetizer at the Toshi Koshi Keiko evening(Aikodo New Year’s Eve). Since wild betal leaves (Lá Lốt) were available at one of our grocers, our potluck contribution was screaming out …Bò Lá Lốt baby! These spicy, peppery Việt herb leaves add a nice, punch of flavor to these awesome, garlicky beef appetizers. They can be eaten alone, straight off the skewers or wrapped in fresh springrolls.

We’ve even seen some bánh mì places offer them in a sandwich. You can do what ever your heart desires (the betal leaves literally look like a heart). Oh, we almost forgot to mention the yellow, skewered thingy’s sharing the plate behind the beef rolls. Those are just some lemongrass tofu skewers for the veg-head attendees. We gotta think of everyone and spread the joy of eating . Can’t leave anyone out. We’ll call this the potluck dish the “Protein Plate”. Jam and cram packed full of protein goodness! Just don’t eat the skewers.

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Beef Wrapped in Betal Leaves Recipe – Bo La Lot
These wild betal wrapped beef rolls make up just one of the seven courses of a meal that is traditionally known as “Bo Bay Mon” (Seven Courses of Beef). Some families will eat use these rolls as the meat filling inside fresh springrolls that are wrapped at the table. But now these versatile beef appetizers can be eaten with just about any accompaniment. Wild betal leaves may be hard to find, so other alternatives to use are Japanese Shiso leaves, grape leaves or even large spinach leaves. The flavorful meat filling will work well with these leaf alternatives. Just make sure you re-name your dish!

Ingredients:
1/2 pound ground beef
2 cloves of crushed garlic
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
Fresh ground black pepper, to taste
About 20-30 Wild Betal Leaves (Shiso, grape or spinach leaves are ok substitutions)
About 20-30 toothpicks or skewers
crushed peanuts (optional)

1. Mix ground beef, garlic, fish sauce, sugar, salt, turmeric, and black pepper together. Let marinade for about 1 hour.

2. Soak toothpicks or skewers in cold water for at least 30 minutes.

3. Rolling the meat filling when the leaves are raw and stiffer, can sometimes cause the leaves to tear. So here is our alternative to making the rolling much easier. (Optional) We prefer to quickly blanch the leaves because rolling the filling will be much easier when the leaves are softer.

4. Heat a pan or grill to med-high heat.  Grill the wrapped bo la lot, rotating sides regularly until meat is cooked through. Top with crushed peanuts.

More appetizers that you might enjoy:

• Thomas Kellers Cornets
• Crispy, curry crusted tofu and basil fresh springrolls
• Salmon and sweet corn cakes
• Roasted klondike rose potatoes with herb goat cheese, thyme
• Vietnamese stuffed squid
• Asian nachos with pork and/or wonton chips/prawn crackers
• Parmesan poppy seed crackers
• Baked walla walla sweet onion dip
• Panko crusted shrimp lollipops
• Zucchini blossoms stuffed with pork
• Purple kohrabi chips
• Tofu frites, fries and mojo’s
• Vietnamese Spring Rolls – Pineapple and pork fresh springrolls
• Roasted nuts with parmesan, black pepper, sea salt
• Vietnamese beef wrapped in wild betal leaves – Bo La Lot
• Turkey and bacon fried springroll
• Vietnamese green mangoes and chili salt dip