Vietnamese Beef Salad with a Ginger and Lime Dressing
Serves 6
Ingredients
For the beef
- 2 beef fillets
- 2 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp medium dry sherry
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
For the salad dressing
- 3 tbsp Thai fish sauce (Nam Pla)
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 lime, juice only
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 tbsp freshly grated ginger
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- ½ chilli, minced
For the salad
- Mixed salad leaves
- Half a cucumber, thin ribbons
- 1 mango, thinly sliced
- 18 cherry tomatoes, halved
Sunflower oil, for frying
Method
- For the marinade, cut the beef into 2cm strips. Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl, add the beef and coat. Refrigerate and leave to marinade for as long as you can, at least 30 minutes.
- Meantime, to prepare the salad, wash the leaves and tear into bite size pieces. Place in a bowl and add the cucumber, mango and tomatoes.
- In a jug, mix the salad dressing ingredients together and set aside.
- To finish, heat a frying pan and add the oil, heat until searing.
- Add the beef in batches, if necessary, taking care not to overcrowd the pan.
- Sear very quickly on full heat on one side and when brown, turn over. The beef should still be pink in the centre (or to taste).
- When the beef is ready, remove from the pan immediately and set aside
- Mix half of the dressing with the salad leaves.
- Arrange the cucumber ribbons and mango strips alternately on the salad leaves and add the tomatoes and beef in between.
- Drizzle over some dressing.