Crying Tiger Beef Image Used Under Creative Commons License From cookpad.com
Citizens! As My regular readers have noticed, I am getting back into the groove of regular posting here for the benefit of all TFD Nation! I am glad for it, as the man-eating tiger that is My depression has been stalking me these last few months and may at last FINALLY be in the process of being driven back into the jungle primeval that spawned it! As My tiger is assuredly crying at this development, I unironically post today’s recipe for crying tiger beef with Thai dipping sauce!
Suea rong hai (Thai: เสือร้องไห้; Lao: ເສືອຮ້ອງໄຫ້; Northeastern Thai: เสือฮ้องไห้) aka crying tiger beef is a Lao and Northeastern Thai local food originally made from brisket of beef, flavored with spices, grilled rare, sliced into small pieces, and served with sticky rice and other dishes. The name “crying tiger beef” is based on a local myth related to a crying tiger – but WHY is it crying is the question?
As noted on yumaroundtheworld.com, there are actually multiple legends about how this dish actually received its unique monicker!
Why is the Tiger Crying? This delicious steak and addictive sauce combo goes by the catchy name ‘crying tiger’ (aka suea rong hai, เสือร้องไห้) or even ‘weeping tiger.’ Whichever version you prefer, one thing is certain: this tiger is sad.
But why? What’s going on with the tiger? Why is there a tiger involved at all?
Here’s the truth: nobody knows. But theories abound. Here are a bunch…
It’s the dipping sauce Crying tiger dipping sauce is best with a generous heap of chili. That level of spice is probably more than a tiger is used to. Thus, there are tears.
It’s the beef The story goes that back in the day, crying tiger steak was made using a cheap, tough cut of beef that was so rigid, even a tiger would struggle to eat it. Resulting, of course, in a sad tiger. This one has some plausibility because sua rong hai was originally made using brisket, which isn’t the most tender unless cooked slow and low for a long period of time.
Or maybe the opposite…Another theory is that crying tiger beef has always been made with the tenderest cuts of beef, which meant all the tiger got were the leftover tough bits. Again, crying ensues.
It’s the way it’s cooked Yet another explanation is found in the way that the melting fat drips from a grilled beef. If one squinted and reached deep into one’s imagination, those fat drippings could almost look like tears.
Can you see the tears? My favorite theory is one that I consider the best story, one in which everybody – both human and tiger – get some delicious beef. The story goes that back in the day, people would stumble upon the remnants of cows that had been eaten by tigers. And the people would take the leftover cuts of meat – brisket, in particular, to create a delicious, flavorful steak.
It was dubbed crying tiger because the people imagined the tiger being filled with regret at having left the flavorful, nutritious cut of meat behind.
Which version appeals to you most? Great, that’s the one you’re going with.
Crying Tiger beef is an excellent example of the Isaan, or Northeastern Thai-style of cuisine – it is very distinct from the rest of Thai cuisine. Isaan’s culture is predominantly Lao, and has much in common with that of neighboring Laos. This affinity is shown in the region’s cuisine, dress, temple architecture, festivals, and arts.
Isaan food has elements most in common with Laos and is somewhat distinct from central Thai cuisine. The most obvious difference is the consumption of sticky rice that accompanies almost every meal rather than non-sticky long-grain rice. French and Vietnamese influences found in Lao cuisine are absent in Isaan. Popular Lao dishes that are also staples in Isaan include tam buk hoong, (green papaya salad), (in Laotian Lao, the pronunciation is tam mak hoong, while in central Thai, it’s som tam) larb (meat salad), and kai yang (grilled chicken).
These dishes have spread to other parts of Thailand, but normally in versions that temper the extreme heat, sourness, and umami from fermented fish (pla daek, or pla rah in Central Thai) favored in Isaan for the more moderate central Thai palate. Conversely, central Thai food has become popular in Isaan. The people of Isaan, a mixture of Lao, Vietnamese, Khmer, Mon, Cham, and other Tai groups, famously eat a wide variety of creatures, such as lizards, frogs, and fried insects, such as grasshoppers, crickets, silkworms, and dung beetles.
Originally forced by poverty to be creative in finding foods, Isaan people now savor these creatures as delicacies or snacks. Food is commonly eaten by hand using sticky rice pressed into a ball with the fingers of the right hand. Soups are a frequent element of any meal, and contain vegetables, herbs, noodles, chunks of fish, balls of ground pork, or a mixture of these. They are eaten using a spoon and chopsticks at the same time.
The dipping sauce traditionally now served with crying tiger beef is known as nam jim jaew – and it is truly a delicious accompaniment to the smoky beef!
Nam Jim Jaew is a classic dipping sauce that originated in Northeast Thailand’s Isaan region and is now popular nationwide. It’s known for its balanced spicy, sour, sweet, and savory flavors, with a distinct smoky taste and crunchy texture from toasted rice powder. The sauce’s versatility, along with the migration of Isaan people, helped it spread across Thailand, where it’s a perfect accompaniment to grilled meats, sticky rice, and other dishes.
In the Isaan dialect, “jeaw” refers to a dipping sauce. “Nam jim” is a broader Thai term for various dipping sauces. Therefore, Nam Jim Jaew essentially means “the dipping sauce from the Northeast”. The sauce is a blend of fish sauce, lime juice or tamarind, palm sugar, chili flakes, toasted rice powder, and fresh herbs like shallots. Its combination of spicy, sour, sweet, and salty elements, along with the toasted rice powder for a smoky flavor and satisfying texture, makes it a well-rounded and exceptionally beloved condiment.
The sauce is most famously served with grilled meats like Gai Yang (grilled chicken) and Mu Ping (pork skewers), as well as sticky rice. The sauce’s widespread popularity is largely due to the migration of Isaan people, who brought their culinary traditions and opened restaurants and street food stalls throughout the country.
As noted on the excellent blog shesimmers.com in this lightly-edited excerpt:
In Thailand, when you buy Gai Yang (grilled spatchcocked chicken) or Mu Ping (skewered grilled pork), the vendor almost always gives you two kinds of Nam Jim or dipping sauces to take home along with the grilled protein. One, of course, is the indispensable sweet and tangy chilli sauce; the other is one of the many varieties of the smokier, less sweet dipping sauce, Jaew (แจ่ว).
Though not as well known internationally as its sweeter cousin, Jaew is no less a favorite among Thais. This explains why two kinds of dipping sauces accompany every grilled meat purchase — to eliminate the agony which customers would otherwise have to go through in choosing one or the other.
It’s difficult to pin down the definitive Jaew recipe since every family has their own way of making it. One thing, however, remains constant: just as the sweet chilli sauce is always made of fresh red chillies, Jaew is always made with dried red chillies. Traditionally, the chillies are lightly toasted over open flame and pounded into tiny flakes.
Then, true to its northeastern origin, toasted rice powder is also a required ingredient in many family recipes. The herbs and aromatics then go into a mixture of fish sauce, lime juice, and sometimes palm sugar.
While originally made with very tough brisket, as this was a cheap cut available to the very poor Isaan locals, today crying tiger beef is made with far more expensive and tender cuts of beef – I prefer a NY strip steak for My superlative version! There are several Thai-specific ingredients you are going to need to both marinate the crying tiger beef and to create the dipping sauce – mercifully, all are easily available in Asian grocery stores and online.
Despite all the ingredients, crying tiger beef is actually quite easy to make – and I hope you choose to make it soon, My glorious Citizens! It’s time for us ALL to make the tiger cry…
For the Nam Jim Jaew: toast glutinous rice in a dry skillet over medium heat. Shake or toss the pan constantly to brown the rice evenly. Add a kaffir lime leaf in the last 30 seconds or so of browning. When the rice is golden brown, transfer it to a mortar with the lime leaf and grind it into a coarse powder using a pestle. You can also use a spice grinder, but let the rice cool first and be careful not to grind it too finely.
If making your own roasted chili flakes instead of using Urfa Biber, grab a handful of Puya chiles.
Snap off the stems, dropping the chile into a 10-inch skillet, this is about 20 chiles. Heat the skillet over high heat until hot, stirring all the time. When the chiles have puffed up and are lightly fragrant – they’ll darken slightly, lower the heat to low.
Slowly toast for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring and flipping occasionally, until dark like espresso all over and very brittle feeling. Cool off heat. Discard all the seeds that have fallen out because they’re bitter.
Grind the chiles with their internal seeds in a spice to the texture of Kosher salt or Korean gochu garu chile flakes.
Combine with all remaining ingredients except glutinous rice powder. Measure 2 teaspoons of your toasted rice powder and stir the Nam Jim Jaew together until the sugar has dissolved.
For the beef: Mix oyster sauce, Thai dark sweet soy sauce, fish sauce, garlic, and ginger together in a small bowl and then slather all over the steak. Let this marinate for at least 30 minutes. If you marinate for longer in the refrigerator, take it out of the fridge 30 minutes before cooking to bring it to room temperature.
Heat a grill pan or cast iron skillet over medium heat until hot but not scorching. If you are using a grill, lay the steak diagonally on the grill at the 10 o’clock. Let this cook until you have grill marks (~1 ½ minutes). Turn the steak to the 2 o’clock position without flipping it over and press down on any parts that aren’t making contact with the pan.
Continue cooking the steak for another minute until it has developed a crosshatched grill pattern. Flip the steak and then repeat the grilling process at 2 o’clock and then turn it to 10 o’clock. Lower the heat to prevent burning if the steak starts browning too quickly. Grilling a 1-inch thick steak to medium rare will take about 5 minutes.
When the Crying Tiger Steak is cooked to your liking, transfer it to a cutting board and let it rest for 10 minutes before slicing it. Slice the steak as thinly as possible against the grain using a sharp knife.
Grind white pepper on the sliced steak to taste, then sprinkle with some extra toasted rice powder.
Serve your Crying Tiger Beef with vegetables (like cucumber or cabbage) and the Nam Jim Jaew sauce.
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