Sweet and savory Cambodian style beef jerky fried to perfection. Crispy edges and chewy meat best paired with steamed sticky rice and pickled vegetables.
This isn't your ordinary beef jerky that you'll find in your regular grocery store. Southeast Asian style beef jerky is extra special; marinated overnight, sun-dried then pan-fried in oil before serving for an extra crispy exterior and served with sweet sticky rice and pickled vegetables. Khmer beef jerky is generally marinated and dried in bulk then portioned out prior to cooking so this makes for a fantastic food to meal prep. This style of beef jerky is historically sun-dried, before the days of meat dehydrators which is why it is then fried before serving to fully cook the meat. This recipe requires a standard food dehydrator, the most important factor is to get the meat dried but you don't want to fully dehydrate it like traditional American beef jerky as it's intended for frying.
Ingredients:
7 lbs beef rump roast/top round/bottom round
2 tbsp thick soy sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp MSG or chicken bouillon powder
1 tbsp red pepper flakes
2 tbsp kosher salt
2 tsp freshly grounded black pepper
Visual Directions:
Slice beef length-wise into quarter-inch thick slices. It's a bit easier to cut through if the meat is slightly frozen so if you are having trouble getting clean slices, pop it into the freezer for about 30 mins or so until it's slightly frozen.
This will seem a bit thick for jerky, however the beef will dehydrate to nearly half of this size once it's fully cooked.
Once fully sliced, place the slices in a large bowl and set aside to prepare marinade.
Combine the sugar, salt, MSG or chicken bouillon powder, black pepper, red pepper flakes in a small bowl.
Add the thick soy sauce into the beef and pour the dry mixture into the bowl as well and mix thoroughly until each piece is fully coated.
Once all the slices are fully coated, cover and marinate in the fridge overnight.
Place the marinated beef slices on the dehydrator trays, do not overlap any pieces.
If you have a dehydrator with adjustable temperature settings, I set mine to 155 degrees which is the highest temperature it can go. Dehydrate for 4 hours if you have the temperature setting and 5 hours if you do not have the adjustable temperature setting.
Once the dehydrating time is up, remove from dehydrator and put aside. Here you can portion it out if you wish to freeze the jerky that you won't be serving yet. Otherwise, you can store the beef jerky that you're going to cook in the fridge for up to a week.
Cooking the Beef Jerky
In a frying pan or a wok, coat the bottom of the pan with vegetable or canola oil and preheat to medium high heat. Add the beef slices and fry.
Flip the slices after cooking for about 3 - 5 mins or until both sides are browned and crispy.
The jerky will be a beautiful brown color with crispy charred edges.
Serve with rice and pickled vegetables for best results. Check out this recipe for pickled preserved daikon for our family favorite side dish!
Directions:
Preparation
Slice beef length-wise into quarter-inch thick slices. It's a bit easier to cut through if the meat is slightly frozen so if you are having trouble getting clean slices, pop it into the freezer for about 30 mins or so until it's slightly frozen.
Once fully sliced, place the slices in a large bowl and set aside to prepare marinade.
Add the thick soy sauce into the beef and pour the dry mixture into the bowl as well and mix thoroughly until each piece is fully coated.
Combine the sugar, salt, MSG or chicken bouillon powder, black pepper, red pepper flakes in a small bowl.
Once all the slices are fully coated, cover and marinate in the fridge overnight.
Place the marinated beef slices on the dehydrator trays, do not overlap any pieces.
Dehydrate for 4 hours at 155 degrees F OR 5 hours if you do not have the adjustable temperature setting.
Once the dehydrating time is up, remove from dehydrator and put aside. You can portion it out if you wish to freeze the jerky that you won't be serving yet. Otherwise, you can store the beef jerky that you're going to cook in the fridge for up to a week.
Cooking
In a frying pan or a wok, coat the bottom of the pan with vegetable or canola oil and preheat to medium high heat. Add the beef slices and fry.
Flip the slices after cooking for about 3 - 5 mins or until both sides are browned and crispy.
Serve with rice and pickled vegetables for best results.
