This is one of the most popular dishes that we teach at Wickedfood cooking school. We make it at least once a week with our corporate teambuilding clients. It is a perfect salad for a hot summer’s day, best to serve the beef rare for maximum flavour. Grill it on a very hot fire so as to seal the meat, but leaving it succulent inside.

500g beef sirloin

Sauce
2 cloves garlic
Handful coriander leaves
Handful mint leaves
2 T sugar
2 t light soy sauce
1 T lemon juice
1/2 t fish sauce
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
11/4 T olive oil

1 T lemon juice
1/2 T fish sauce

Salad
1 packet mixed salad leaves 1/2 cup rocket leaves

1 cup mint, basil and coriander leaves
2 spring onions including tops, thinly sliced
1 small cucumber, cut into thin ribbons

6 fresh red chillies thinly sliced

Pre-heat the grill or prepare the braai. Rub the meat with oil and grill turning once, cooking no further than medium rare. Leave to rest for 10 minutes and cut into strips.

Sauce
Crush the garlic in a mortar. Add the coriander, mint, sugar and pound to a paste. Add soy sauce, lime juice and fish sauce, and mix well.

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the sauce and stir fry for ±1 minute. Add the beef and toss to coat. Immediately remove from the heat and spoon into a bowl to cool.
De-glaze the saucepan with the 1T lemon juice and 1/2 T fish sauce, and use as salad dressing.

Salad
Wash the salad leaves, rocket, mint, basil and coriander, and mix.

Everything up to this point can be done ahead of time.

To plate
Just before serving, toss the salad leaves lightly in the cooled dressing. Pile the leaves in the centre of a large platter. Arrange the beef on top and garnish with spring onions, cucumber and chillies. Pour any remaining meat sauce over and serve immediately to prevent the salad from wilting.

Serves 4

Great Asian recipes – Click here:

Chicken feet

Biryani

Kaeng kari kai – yellow curried chicken

Phanaeng Beef Curry in sweet peanut sauce

Phat Thai

Tom yum kung

Green pawpaw salad

Fish head curry

Warm squid salad in a pineapple

Spiced pork spare ribs

Deep-fried silken tofu

3 Cup Chicken

For other articles on South East Asia see:

A Taste of Thailand

Floating markets in Bangkok

Must try Singapore dishes

The ABCs of Singapore food

Singapore hawker food centres

Vietnamese cuisine

Cooking schools in South East Asia

Thai House cooking school • Bangkok • Thailand

Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School• Thailand

Red Bridge Cooking School• Hoi An • Vietnam

Books reviewed by Wickedfood on Asian food:

Secrets of the Red Lantern

Kylie Kwong: Recipes and Stories

A Passion for Thai Cooking

Balance & Harmony, Asian Food

 

Wickedfood Cooking School

Sunninghill – (011) 234-3252sunninghill@wickedfood.co.za

Wickedfood Cooking School runs cooking classes throughout the year at its purpose-built cooking studios. Classes are run in the mornings and evenings 7 days a week (subject to a minimum of 12 people). The venue is also popular for corporate events and private functions – team building cooking classes, birthdays, kitchen teas, and dinner parties with a difference.

Our cookery classes are hands-on, where every person gets to participate in the preparation of the dishes. They are also a lot of fun where you not only learn new skills, but get to meet people with similar interests. For corporate groups and teambuilding cooking classes these classes are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.