Thai beef and tomato salad
Ah, Thailand. The bustle. The full-throttled craziness of its cities, especially Bangkok. The charm of the people and the allure of the culture; we’re big into those. And SHOPPING!! We adore the retail action; those markets are unreal (how good is Chatuchak?) And yes, we’re even partial to a glitzy mall or three. But we mostly adore the food, with its punch-you-in-the-face fresh, zingy, spicy notes. The flavours are on steroids in Thailand and we’re not sure why. Even everyday produce like garlic, ginger and shallots taste so much more intense there; maybe it’s the sun and soil. While a lot of Thai food is complex and involves making pastes from scratch and ingredients you might not readily find, dishes like this beef salad are actually rather approachable. All you need are a few fresh herbs, some really good steak, tomatoes, rice vermicelli and that classic balance of sweet-sour-salt-spice from sugar, lime juice, fish sauce and chilli. Oh and pounded, toasted glutinous (sticky) rice too; called khao khua in Thai, this adds amazing texture and flavour to the dressing. Don’t skip the step of making it as it gives an X-factor edge; you can actually buy it ready-made but fresh stuff tastes exponentially better.
Salads make up a whole category in Thai cuisine and with the exception of ones from the Northeast, which can be incendiary, they’re pretty easy to enjoy. Even for the chilli averse, who can add as much or as little chilli as they like. Many Thai salads are a combo of cooked and raw ingredients, and they’re mixed just before serving so that leaves and crunchy bits don’t go soggy or bruise. Rightly you’d grill your steak for this over coals for the right smoky notes, but a good sear in a hot pan works just fine. Cut the steak while it's still warm, but well rested, making sure to drizzle all the lovely beefy resting juices over at the end.
SERVES 4
2½ tbsp glutinous (sticky) rice
peanut oil
2 x 300g rib-eye steaks, patted dry and seasoned with salt
100g dried rice vermicelli noodles
400g small ripe tomatoes, cut into chunks
2-3 Asian shallots, very finely sliced
handful each mint leaves, Thai basil leaves and coriander sprigs
50g (⅓ cup) unsalted roasted peanuts, lightly crushed or chopped
lime halves, to serve
Dressing
1 large stalk lemongrass, white part only
2 large garlic cloves, finely grated or chopped
juice of 2 limes, or to taste
2½ tbsp caster or shaved palm sugar, or to taste
60ml (¼ cup) fish sauce, or to taste
2 red birds eye chillies, chopped, or to taste
Heat a small, heavy-based frying pan over medium heat. Add the glutinous rice, then toast, shaking the pan often, for 8-10 minutes or until the grains are pale golden brown. Remove from the pan and cool. Transfer to an electric spice grinder and grind to a fine powder; alternatively, pound the rice using a mortar and pestle. Set aside. Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil for the noodles.
Heat a heavy-based frying pan over medium-high heat, add a little peanut oil and swirl to coat. Add the dried, seasoned steaks, then cook for 3 minutes on each side (depending on thickness) or until cooked to your liking. Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature.
Cook the noodles in the boiling water for 2 minutes or according to the packet directions, until just tender. Drain in a sieve, then run under cold water to cool; drain again. Add a few teaspoons of oil and toss to coat to prevent the noodles sticking. Set aside.
For the dressing, very finely slice or chop the lemongrass. Combine in a small bowl with the garlic, lime juice and sugar, then whisk to dissolve the sugar. Add the fish sauce and chilli, then taste and adjust the balance of sweetness, saltiness, sourness or spice to how you like it. Add 2 tbsp of the rice powder and stir to combine.
Finely slice the steak against the grain. Combine in a large bowl with the vermicelli, tomato, shallot, herbs and peanuts. Gently toss to combine, drizzle over the dressing, then divide among plates. Serve with lime halves and the remaining rice powder sprinkled over if you like. It adds a delicious grittiness.
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