My O My.. Best Thai Beef Salad Ever!

Submitted by KitchenManiac

"This is one of the best Thai salads I have ever tasted and I just had to share it with my zaar family. Try it, you won't regret it. You can substitute the beef with the same amount of Pork fillets, chicken breasts or thigh fillets, or some firm tofu. When preparing this salad in advance, cook the beef, prepare the salad, and make the dressing, BUT STORE EACH IN SEPARATE CONTAINERS. Do NOT combine until you are ready to serve. This is an ideal portable lunch or picnic dish that can be transported in 3 small containers, and assembled on the spot."

 

• Ready In: 15mins
• Ingredients: 12
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 30 ounces sirloin steaks, trimmed (rump or fillet)
• 7 ounces salad greens (any kind)
• 2 small red onions, finely sliced
• 10 kaffir lime leaves, shredded
• 3 large mild red chilies, seeded and shredded (can add more if you like a BIG punch)
• 2⁄3 cup cilantro leaf (coriander)
• 2⁄3 cup mint leaf
• 2⁄3 cup basil leaves

• DRESSING

• 1 teaspoon soya sauce
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar or 2 tablespoons palm sugar

directions

1. Brush the beef with a little oil and char-grill, barbecue, or pan-fry till cooked to your liking.
2. (I recommend medium rare for this recipe, if you can handle a little blood.) Set aside for five minutes and slice it thinly.
3. Place salad greens, onions, kaffir lime leaves, chili, cilantro, mint and basil into a salad bowl and toss lightly.
4. To make the dressing, combine the soy sauce, fish sauce, lime juice and sugar.
5. Stir the dressing well.
6. Place the beef on the salad and pour over the dressing.
7. Serve immediately.

Reviews

[Chap Heng]

I must say that this is a wonderful recipe. When I made this the first time I had a taste of the dressing just to make sure and I thought I was headed for a disaster given its weird taste, a sourish and saltish flavor. But when I started tossing the greens together the aroma of the different spices was heavenly! When I combined the greens and the dressing, the taste was wonderful! I was so wrong about the taste! I've replaced beef with roast chicken and it tastes just as great. I made this for a party and separated it into three parts since I have vegetarian friends coming over and they loved it! It makes a great vegetarian salad.

 

[teachermisslisa]

This recipe is fabulous! I didn't have any red chilies so I used one deseeded jalepeno and followed the recipe exactly other than that. My husband even loved it and he's super picky! Thanks for a great summer salad I'll use over and over again!<br/>by the way, Whole foods carries the lime leaves

 

[Hey Jude]

My O My, this was a very good dish! I too was unsure about the dressing, the aroma of the fish sauce alarmed me. But, once everything is pulled together and you take a bite, WOW, your taste buds are assaulted with sweet, sour, salty, spicy..all at once. It's wonderful! I used a bag of "spring mix" greens from the grocery store here in the Chicago area, and followed the recipe as KitchenManiac writes it. Great recipe KM, thanks a lot for another great recipe!

 

[Kennifira Malcom Sh]

This salad is called Num Tok on Thai menus. It means ?Waterfall? and can also describe a meat soup, but most typically refers to the meat salad. The salad is also enjoyed by the Lao people. I will be making this tonight. I?m glad I ran across this recipe because I was trying to figure out what to do with this sirloin tip steak I?ve had in the freezer. I can?t believe this wasn?t the first thing I thought of, I?ve been making Num Tok for at least 6 years now. This is a great basic recipe although I offer these few suggestions to folks who are trying this for the first time. 1-Unless you are fond of bland food (I mean no offence, A LOT of people eat bland food because they can?t handle powerful flavors and spices and the salt paranoia of late has people making tragically unsalted dishes) I recommend seasoning the meat. At least salt and pepper, and if you are grilling, don?t oil the meat, oil the grill grate. (Just my opinion, oil lets too much of the spice fall off when grilling. Kitchenmaniac has no seasoning in this recipe, so if you go that route, oiling the meat is just fine.) A nice perforating of the meat with a fork or better yet a culinary needler, also called a tenderizer and a few hours in a marinade that is similar or just like the sauce in this recipe will amp this recipe up nicely. 2-The Kaffir and mint leaves are a bit out of the usual. No problem using them but I can?t stand Kaffir lime leaf for some reason except a little bit in a red curry paste and a touch in a Tom Yum Goong soup. This mint in this recipe would be replaced with Thai basil more traditionally in my experience. Use the mint for mojitos! 3-Grilling the chilies a little bit will alter their flavor in a good way. Do this ahead of time and pop them in the fridge to make them cool. If you really like Thai level heat, mince one or two (depending on the punishment you deserve) Thai hot peppers in to the dressing (Also often called bird?s eye chilies). They are nuclear like habaneros but like habaneros are to Mexican food they have a distinct flavor only a Thai hot can give. Almost any variety of vegetable would be good with this salad. Broccoli and cauliflower would be a bit weird I think but I would use tomato, cucumber, julienned or shredded carrot, shredded or finely cut cabbage or baby bok choy?even fresh squash like yellow or zucchini thinly cut or julienned if I had on hand. May be a step out of traditional, but delicious. 4-The dressing is straight up the mother?s milk of Thai style sauces and can be used for dipping Thai summer rolls in, instead of or along with the typical peanut sauce typically served with summer rolls, but add a little water for use as a dip to soften it a bit. Also, I tend to not use as much sugar. Thai restaurants sweeten dishes for the America palette just like Chinese places do. They don?t really eat everything so sweet and they do not sprinkle peanuts over everything. Play around with the balance of ingredients for the sauce and you?ll get it just right for you. You may like sweet, but not me?not for dinner at least. This recipe is pretty much straight down the line what you will read all over and is tried and true though. Props to KitchenManiac for not sprinkling peanuts all over this salad. Peanuts, contrary to a lot of people?s thinking does not make dishes ?Thai?. There are a few Thai dishes peanuts are called for?a FEW. This is not one of them. 5-Finally, it is traditional to sprinkle a little ground roasted rice on this salad. Roast uncooked rice in a pan or toaster oven just until they begin to turn yellowish/light brown then finely grind in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle. Make a batch and it keeps for a very long time on the spice shelf/rack. The texture this adds is something you?ll be sorry you have missed all this time?for most people at least?your mileage may vary. I LOVE NUM TOK! If you can?t tell by now.

 

[leannestock]

Excellent! I made extra batch of the dressing and let the cooked meat (I used flank steak) marinate in it for a few hours. I didn't use very many of the red peppers, only used one. Also, I tossed the salad with sesame oil first so the dressing would have something to stick to. There was chili pepper flakes on the side so people could add heat if they liked.