Classic Thai beef salad with chilli and lime

Here’s a fresh, fragrant and fabulous Thai beef salad recipe for you to try. It’s one of the classic dishes of Thai cuisine and we’re not surprised – it’s definitely one of our favourites.

Ingredients

• 500g beef fillet, trimmed
• 100g rice vermicelli
• 1 (130g) Lebanese cucumber, seeded, sliced thinly
• 1/2 cup fresh coriander leaves
• 1/3 cup fresh Thai basil leaves
• 10 cm stick (20g) lemongrass, crushed, sliced thinly
• 2 fresh kaffir lime leaves, shredded finely
• 2 (50g) french shallots
• 2 Tablespoons fried shallots

Thai dressing

• 2 fresh small red Thai chillies, halved
• 1 clove of garlic, quartered
• 1/4 teaspoon caster sugar
• 1/3 cup (80ml) lime juice
• 2 Tablespoons fish sauce

Method

1. Heat oiled grill (or BBQ) and cook beef until cooked as desired. Cover beef; stand for 5 minutes, then slice thinly.
2. Place vermicelli in a medium heatproof bowl, cover with boiling water; stand until tender, drain. Rinse under cold water, drain.
3. Thai dressing: using a mortar and pestle, crush chilli, garlic and sugar to a paste. Combine paste with remaining ingredients in a small bowl.
4. Combine beef, vermicelli, cucumber, herbs, lemongrass, lime leaves and sliced shallot in a large bowl.
5. Put salad among serving plates; drizzle with Thai dressing, sprinkle with fried shallots!