Combine together the soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar and fish sauce.
Pour the mixture over the steak and smooth over both sides to cover. Leave to marinate for at least 1 hour, turning once or twice to recoat the meat in the marinade.If you're marinating for longer, cover the meat and refrigerate for up to 24 hours.When you're ready to cook, remove from the fridge and bring up to room temperature for 30 minutes or so.
For the Nam Jim Jaew dipping sauce
In a dry frying pan, add the rice and the chillies. Dry fry to toast the rice. The grains will bounce around the pan a little. Remove when lightly browned.
Tip the rice and chillies into a pestle & mortar or spice grinder and grind into a rough powder (like a ground black pepper consistency).
Combine this mixture with all the other dipping sauce ingredients and stir well. Add a little water if you like, to thin out the mixture. refrigerate until needed.
Cooking the beef
Cook your steaks on a BBQ grill or in a griddle/skillet pan, until cooked how you like. I cooked my ribeye steaks (10oz/300g) for around 4 minutes per side for a 'medium' cook.
Rest the meat for 2-3 minutes then thickly slice and arrange on a platter or board. Drizzle over a little of the sauce and serve.
Serve with small individual bowls of the dipping sauce for each person.
Notes
Alt Cooking Methods
You can cook your beef in a number of ways. On the hot bbq grill is best for charring and imparting a smoky flavour. That said, you can also use a pan or skillet to cook the steak or a hot broiler/grill.
Ingredient Substitutions
Substitute the glutinous rice and dried chillies with pre bought Khao Kua (pre-ground rice) which is available at Vietnamese supermarkets or online, and chilli flakes.
You can use other meats for crying tiger. Use chicken, duck, pork or lamb and cook accordingly until done.
Serving suggestions
Serve hot with some crunchy lettuce leaves on the side to act as a cup.
I also like to have some sticky rice or coconut rice nearby and maybe even a hot, spicy papaya salad.
Storage
Fridge: Keep leftovers (meat and sauce) in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Freezer: Not a great contender for freezing, so avoid.