CHARGRILLED THAI BEEF SALAD
East Meets West: Celebrity Charity Cookbook by Barbara Jayson, Jenny de Montfort (From Antony Worrall Thompsons Top 100 Beef Recipes, 2005)
Serves 4 preparation and cooking 40 minutes, plus marinating time.
• 1 tbsp jasmine rice, uncooked • 2 dried red chillies • 500g (1 lb 2oz) thick fillet steak • 2 tbsp sesame oil • 75ml (2 1/2 fl oz) kecap manis (sweet soy sauce) • 2 tsp sugar • 4 tbsp lime juice • 3 tbsp Thai fish sauce • 1 small cucumber; peeled, deseeded, halved lengthways and cut into 1 cm slices. • 4 red shallots, finely sliced • 12 cherry tomatoes, halved • 2 red chillies, finely sliced • 1 handful fresh mint leaves • 1 handful fresh coriander leaves • 2 tablesoons fresh basil leaves, ripped • 4 spring onions, finely sliced
Heat the frying pan, add the rice and toast until golden but not burnt. Grind the rice in a clean coffee-grinder or pound to a powder and set aside.
Reheat the frying pan and add the dried red chillies.Toast until they are smoky then grind or pound to a powder and set aside.
Chargrill or pan-fry the beef for around 12 minutes, until well marked outside and rare to medium-rare inside. Place in a bowl and leave to rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the sesame oil with the kecap manis and brush over the fillet. Marinate for 2 hours.
Dissolve the sugar in the lime juice and fish sauce. Combine half a teaspoon of the ground dried chilli powder with half a teaspoon of the ground rice and set aside. Combine the cucumber; shallots, cherry tomatoes, red chillies, herbs and spring onions in a large bowl. Add the lime juice and fish sauce mixture and toss to combine.
Slice the beef thinly Toss the beef and ground rice mix through the salad with any cooking juices that have collected in the beef bowl. Pile high on a large platter and serve with a salad of crunchy raw lettuce.
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