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Vietnamese Beef Salad
Description
- Fresh and vibrant, a definite texture party in one bite. This Vietnamese-style Grilled Lemongrass Beef Salad is tangy, sweet, umami and juicy all at once. Crunchy summer vegetables meet juicy tender steak. Your choice for an appetizer or a full meal.
Ingredients
Scale
Marinate & Beef
- Juice from 1/2 lime
- 2 lemongrass stalks (white part only) bruised and chopped
- 6 garlic bruised
- 1 tsp of black pepper
- 400–500 g Ontario beef flank steak / flat iron
- 3 1/2 Tbsp of sugar
- 50 mL of hot water
- 2 Tbsp fish sauce
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp of oyster sauce
- 1 Tbsp of neutral oil
Vegetables for the salad
- 1 red pepper (Julienne)
- 1/2 iceberg lettuce (thinly shredded)
- 1 cup of beansprouts
- 3 mini cucumbers, julienne with seeds removed
- 1 cup of cherry tomatoes cut in half
- 1 cup of pickled carrot (see instruction)
- 1/4 sweet onion thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup of roasted peanuts
- 3–4 sprigs of mints
- 3–4 sprigs of basil
Nuoc Cham
- 3 Tbsp of lime juice
- 3 Tbsp of sugar
- 1/3 cups of hot water
- 3 Tbsp of fish sauce
- 2 garlic(minced)
- 2 bird’s eyes chillis (sliced)
In a bowl, dissolves the sugar in hot water. Add the rest of the ingredients. Mix well, set aside
Instructions
Pickled Carrot
- In a jar, place the thinly sliced carrot and pour over the warm Nuoc Cham,
- Refrigerate for a few hours to make a quick pickle. We are going to use the juice (Nuoc Cham for the salad dressing)
Grilled Beef
- Make the marinate by diluting the sugar with hot water. Add fish sauce, soy sauce, oyster sauce, lime juice, garlic, oil, black pepper and lemongrass. Mix well and pour it onto a container with the flat iron steak, refrigerate to marinate overnight.
- Remove from fridge at least 30 minutes before grilling.
- Preheat a cast iron pan on medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes
- Brush the cast Iron with a dab of oil
- Sear the steak and cook for 6-7 minutes on each side depending on thickness until the internal temperature is 140F.
- Lower the heat and add a few tablespoons of the marinade to the steak and let the sauce caramelize for another 2 minutes turning it once. Remove from heat and let it rest for 5 minutes
Assembling the salad
- Wash and clean all the vegetables for the salad.
- On a platter, layer the iceberg lettuce
- cucumber, red pepper, pickled carrot, shaved onions, bean sprouts and tomatoes
- Top the sliced grilled Lemongrass Beef with crushed peanuts, mint, basil
- and Nuoc Cham
- Enjoy!
Notes
Alternatively, you can use flank steak as a substitute. It is a leaner and thinner cut of meat so you have to adjust the cooking time accordingly.
Due to the nature of flat iron/ flank steak that is thicker in the middle, I like to cut my steaks in half horizontally before marinating them to make sure they are cooking as evenly.
The flat iron steak can be cooked with charcoal and a gas griller for an extra smoky aroma.
