Crying tiger beef, also called tiger tears, is a cornerstone of Thai cuisine. You could even say a Thai restaurant is not authentic unless crying tiger beef is on the menu.
Unfortunately, the ingredients used in restaurants are often sub-par: tough meat, stale spices, or seasonings skipped entirely for convenience, so the flavor ends up far from the real thing.
If you already enjoy the restaurant version, wait until you taste it made at home.
Ingredients for Crying Tiger Beef
Light soy sauce: Readily available in any store, it is simply regular salty soy sauce. Learn more about soy sauce
Fish sauce: an absolutely essential ingredient. It is easy to find in supermarkets, so nothing too exotic, don’t worry 🙂 It keeps for ages, which gives you the perfect excuse to whip up my favorite Thai dish, pad see ew
Sugar: Use whichever sugar you like, but traditionally palm sugar is preferred
Tips for Crying Tiger Beef
Make sure your pan is piping hot. Patience pays off: a proper sear unlocks maximum flavor.
Craving another Thai restaurant classic? Head over here for my pad Thai recipe and click for my Thai basil chicken stir-fry recipe
Easy Crying Tiger Beef
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 high-quality steaks Possible cuts: entrecôte (ribeye), faux-filet (sirloin), bavette (flank) … any quick-cooking cut
MARINADE
- 3 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 0.25 teaspoon cilantro chopped
- 0.25 teaspoon black pepper
DIPPING SAUCE
- 6 tablespoons fish sauce
- 5 tablespoons lime juice
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 dried chili ground, OR 1 to 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 2 tomatoes finely chopped
- 1 handful cilantro fresh, leaves and stems, chopped
- 1 teaspoon khao khua (roasted ground sticky rice) optional
Instructions
- Marinate the steaks for 15 to 30 minutes2 high-quality steaks, 3 tablespoon fish sauce, 1 tablespoon light soy sauce, 2 teaspoons sugar, 2 cloves garlic, 0.25 teaspoon cilantro, 0.25 teaspoon black pepper
- Make the sauce by mixing all the ingredients together6 tablespoons fish sauce, 5 tablespoons lime juice, 2 teaspoons sugar, 1 dried chili, 2 tomatoes, 1 handful cilantro, 1 teaspoon khao khua (roasted ground sticky rice)
- Heat a pan over very high heat. Sear the steaks for 2 minutes on each side (they should still be rare, so the time depends greatly on thickness)
- Slice thinly
