Vietnamese beef salad
This salad has the perfect balance of spicy, salty, sweet and sour. It makes a great mid-week family meal at any time of the year.
Serves 4
Ingredients - for the salad
1 sirloin steak
A little olive oil
3 small shallots, finely sliced
A few good splashes of fish sauce
200g rice vermicelli, rehydrated in boiling water
1 small bunch mint, chopped
1 small bunch Thai basil, chopped
1 small bunch coriander, chopped
1 packet green beans, roughly chopped
150g peanuts, chopped
Salt and pepper
Ingredients - for the dressing
2 small red chillies, thinly diced
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 tbsp fish sauce
Juice of 2 limes
½ carrot, grated
120ml water
Method
Prep the steak by cutting deep incisions through the fat and sinew, to prevent the meat from shrinking when cooked.
Oil and season well before adding to a searing hot griddle pan, turning once. Remove from the heat once nicely browned but still rare. Set aside to rest.
To a mixing bowl, add the sliced, raw shallots and chopped green beans.
Take the rehydrated rice noodles and use a pair of scissors to trim them into the bowl.
For the dressing, combine all of the ingredients and pour half over the noodle mixture.
Slice the steak into strips, put them back into the hot griddle pan and season with a few good splashes of fish sauce. Make sure the meat is evenly coated before dropping straight onto the noodles. Mix until well combined and add the remaining dressing.
Add all of the herbs, a sprinkling of peanuts and give everything a last mix.
Dish out onto a plate and garnish with a little more coriander.