THAI BEEF SALAD

Before I ventured into the arena of cooking Asian cuisine, I had to decide if I wanted to enter into a new realm of condiments, sauces and spices that I would have to seek out and store in my pantry.

After having experimented with Chinese, Japanese, Thai and Vietnamese dishes, I found that the impact of the few ingredients I committed to buy and keep on hand has been well worth it.

One of these ingredients is featured in my Thai Beef Salad recipe and is the one you would probably be the least enticed to purchase - Fish Sauce. While you may be turned off by its name and quite pungent smell; this salty liquid adds great flavor to many Asian dishes and in my opinion, cannot be ‘substituted’ by any other sauce or condiment. An added benefit is that it can be found in the Asian section of any grocery store.

The following salad is similar to those I have tried at Thai, Vietnamese and fusion restaurants. I adapted the recipe to utilize ingredients that can be found at any grocery store, and best of all, I was able to prepare it in about 20 minutes.


Thai Beef Salad

1 Sirloin or New York Strip steak, cut into thin slices
Juice of 1 lime
2 T fish sauce
3 t brown sugar
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 lemongrass stalk, white part only, finely sliced
1 small fresh red chili, thinly sliced (seeds discarded)*
15-20 fresh mint leaves
½ cup diced tomatoes, or cherry tomato halves
½ English cucumber, sliced thinly
1 green onion, thinly sliced
3 cups Napa cabbage, very thinly sliced (crosswise) or shredded
¼ cup crushed/chopped toasted peanuts
1 T oil

* The red chili, even without the seeds, adds quite a bit of heat. Omit it if you don’t like your food too spicy.

Heat the oil in a skillet over high heat. Add the beef and cook to medium, about 4-5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.

Combine the lime juice, fish sauce, brown sugar, garlic, lemongrass, chili and stir to dissolve the sugar. Add the green onion and mint. Add the beef to the mixture and chill for 15 minutes. Add the cucumbers and tomatoes and toss well.

Arrange the cabbage on a serving platter and top with beef mixture. Sprinkle with the crushed peanuts.


Note: I find the texture of raw lemongrass a little tough, but it adds great flavor. If you want to remove the lemongrass before eating, cut it into larger slices and then remove it from the sauce prior to pouring on top of the cabbage.