Vietnamese beef shank in fish sauce (Bắp bò ngâm nước mắm)

This is a very popular Vietnamese dish which serve during Tet.  It can be served as an appetizer or main dish or with your salad. 

Ingredients:
2 lb boneless beef shank
2 C fish sauce + 2 C sugar
3 to 4 cloves garlic - slice thinly
5 slices old ginger
2 tsp salt
1 tsp whole black pepper

Method:

1. Place the meat in a large pot, add water to cover the beef, add ginger & salt, bring to a boil skim off the scum, cover and simmer gently for 2 hours (if using whole beef shank, see pic above).  Remove the beef from the water and let cool. You can put it in the fridge to speed up this process
2. Cook the dipping sauce: While the beef shank is being cooked, in a smaller pot add sugar & fish sauce and cook on medium heat bring to a boil, remove any scum on the surface.  Add garlic & black pepper & turn off the heat.  Remove the pot from the stove to cool down.
3. Slice and dip: Let the beef cool completely then cut into thin slices.  Put them in a jar/container with lid.  Once the sauce cool completely, add the sauce to the beef.  The sauce must cover the beef.  Put the lid on & it's ready to be served after 5 days. 
4. Serving: Use chopstick or tongs to scoop the beef out.  Note: only scoop out what you want to eat and leave the rest in the container.  You can keep it up to 30 days at room temperature.  Make sure you use a clean utensil when taking the beef out.  This dish can be served cold or reheat to warm (microwave for about 30 seconds to 1 minutes.)