Spicy Asian Beef Salad

This is the perfect quick, zingy salad to serve when it’s so hot, you don’t feel like cooking. Just cook a piece of beef, either BBQ, grill or pan-fry, wash and dry some salad leaves and herbs, whip up a quick dressing and ‘dinner is served’.

Ingredients

• 500g beef fillet, or thick cut sirloin steaks

For the Salad

• Selection of Asian greens and/or baby cos lettuce and watercress sprigs
• 1 bunch mint
• 1 bunch coriander
• 1 long red chilli, finely sliced
• 1/2 bunch Vietnamese Mint
• Lebanese cucumber, finely sliced
• 1 punnet baby Roma tomatoes, halved
• zest of 2 limes
• Crispy shallots
• ground rice, optional, (lightly toasted Jasmine rice, ground in a mortar with a pestle)

For the Dressing

• 2/3 cup Lime juice
• 1/3 cup Fish sauce
• 2 tbs palm sugar or to taste
• 2 tsp rice wine vinegar
• 1 tsp soy sauce

Method

1. Preheat BBQ or char-grill pan on medium heat.
2. Trim and tie the beef fillet with string to keep a good shape. Rub the meat with olive oil and a little fish sauce, season well with cracked black pepper.
3. Cook the beef fillet , turning once, for about 10 -12 minutes for Medium Rare. Rest for 10 minutes before slicing across the grain. For sirloin steaks, cook each side for about 2-3 minutes, for Rare. Rest before slicing.
4. Meanwhile, make the salad. In a large bowl combine all the salad ingredients, except the crispy shallots and ground rice, if using. Chill.

For the Dressing

5. Combine all the ingredients in a screw-top jar, Shake well.

To assemble the Salad.

6. Slice the beef across the grain. Moisten the salad leaves with a little of the dressing.
7. Start ‘building’ the salad. Arrange salad leaves on a platter or plate, layer over some pieces of beef, add another layer of salad, and then more beef slices.
8. Finish with a few salad leaves and sprinkle with crispy shallots and ground rice, if using, and drizzle with more dressing. Serve straight away.