I love simple Asian dishes, like this salad that looks impressive and is easy to toss together.
Ayam’s pad prik khing paste (available from Asian grocers) is a great base for a dressing as it contains all the ingredients I’d use if I was making one from scratch; add a little more sugar, soy or fish sauce, lime juice, or chilli to suit your taste if you like.
You’ll find my Asian dressing recipe at the print-friendly link below if you do want to make your own.
This salad is versatile and can be made with whatever’s on hand, I often use leftover roast beef or steak.
Any Asian herbs (alone or in combination) work well so use whatever you have in the garden or can get hold of easily, such as Thai basil, coriander, mint, or Vietnamese mint.
Taking the beef out of the fridge 30 minutes or so before cooking is key to a great result, it can come up to room temperature while you make the dressing and prepare the other ingredients.
Serves: 2
Ingredients
- 200g beef rump steak
- vegetable oil, for tossing
- salt flakes, to taste
- 1 small green coral lettuce, washed and dried
- 100g baby Roma tomatoes, quartered
- 1/2 small red onion, halved and finely sliced
- 3–4 green onions, finely sliced on the diagonal
- 1 cup Asian herb leaves
- 1 1/2 tablespoons deep-fried shallots
- steamed jasmine rice, for serving
Asian dressing
- 1 1/2 tablespoons lime juice
- 1 1/2 tablespoons Ayam pad prik khing paste
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Method
Cut meat into thin slices across the short end of the piece.
Toss well with oil, spread out on a plate, cover and set aside for 30 minutes or so.
Meanwhile, make the Asian dressing. Whisk ingredients together in a large mixing bowl and set aside.
Heat a chargrill pan or well-seasoned heavy based frying pan over high heat.
Add meat, sprinkle well with salt and cook for one to two minutes each side, until coloured.
Add meat to the dressing, toss to combine and set aside.
Line a serving platter with the smaller lettuce leaves, shred any larger leaves and spread on top.
Add tomato, red and green onions, and herbs to the beef and dressing and toss to combine well.
Arrange on top of the lettuce, sprinkle with deep-fried shallots and serve with rice.
You’ll find a print-friendly variation of this recipe here as well as a step-by-step video of how to make roasted rice powder, a great garnish for this salad and many other South-East Asian dishes.
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Also read: Roberta’s Watercress Soup