Thai beef salad

A super quick (and very healthy) beef salad from Thailand (“neua naam tok”) is refreshing and with a zesty kick.

Preparation time:  Around 10 minutes

Cooking time:  Around 10 minutes

Another recipe that I picked up in Thailand, this salad takes about as long to make as it takes to flash-fry the beef strips.  Light and healthy, it still feels substantial enough to be a “real” dinner!

Ingredients (serves 2):

• Sirloin steak – 1, trimmed and sliced into thin strips
• Lemongrass paste – 2 tsp.
• Brown sugar – 1 tsp.
• Fish sauce – 3 tbsp.
• Lime juice – 4 tbsp.
• Spring onions – a bunch, cut into 1-inch pieces on the diagonal
• Shallots – 4, halved then thinly sliced
• Fresh coriander – 2 tbsp. chopped
• Fresh mint – 2 tbsp. torn, plus extra to garnish
• Ground toasted rice – 1 tbsp. to garnish (or substitute for sesame seeds)
• Salad leaves – a bag of ready-prepared salad leaves is fine

Method:

1. Heat some oil in a wok, then fry the beef strips to your liking.  Set aside to cool;
2. Once cooled, put the beef strips in a bowl and add the lemongrass paste, sugar, fish sauce and lime juice, then mix to coat the beef evenly with the dressing;
3. Add the spring onions, shallots, chopped coriander and torn mint, then mix again to coat;
4. Finally mix through the ground toasted rice (or sesame seeds if you prefer, or if you can’t find the ground toasted rice), then serve over the salad leaves and top with sprigs of mint.

Thai beef salad