Thai Beef Salad

A paleo salad that is great tasting, beautifully colored, balanced in nutrition, and low in calories. The ingredients are reduced to a minimum to achieve a superior flavor.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon sugar


• 2 tablespoons fish sauce


• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (of half a lime)


• 3 cloves garlic, grated


• 1/2 teaspoon minced ginger


• 1 fresh chili pepper, thin sliced (*see footnote 1)


• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil


• 280 grams (10 ounces) pre-sliced sirloin steak (*see footnote 2)


• 4 cups baby spinach leaves, chopped


• (optional) 1/4 red onion, thin sliced


• (optional) 1 small cucumber, sliced


• 200 grams (1 and 1/2 cup) seedless red grapes, halved


• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro

Instructions

1. Combine sugar and 1 tablespoon of water in a small bowl. Heat in microwave until warm, 10 to 15 seconds. Mix well until the sugar is fully dissolved.


2. Combine fish sauce, lime juice, garlic, ginger, and chili pepper in a small bowl and mix well. Add half of the syrup from step one and mix well. Taste the dressing. If you prefer a slightly sweeter dressing, add a bit more of the syrup until you’re satisfied with the results (I ended up using 2/3 of the syrup).


3. Place beef on a plate and pour oil over it. Gently spread oil with hands to coat the beef evenly.


4. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat until warm. Place beef slices into the skillet without overlapping them, and spread them well. Grill until the bottom is cooked. Flip and cook the other side. When the other side is cooked and the inside of the beef is no longer pink, immediately transfer the beef to a plate. Continue to cook the rest of the beef with the same method (*see footnote 3).


5. Prepare the vegetables. Add spinach, onion, and cucumber to a large bowl. (*see footnote 4)


6. When the beef has cooled enough to handle, but is still warm, cut it into bite size pieces with scissors (or a knife). Add into the salad bowl.


7. Add the fish sauce dressing into the salad bowl and toss. Add grape and cilantro. Quickly mix again.


8. Serve warm or cold.

Notes

1. The original recipe called for 3 bird’s eye chilis. I used Chinese chili peppers and the dressing was already super spicy (I wouldn’t mind reducing that by half). If you are not sure about the spiciness of the chili peppers you’re using, add them with caution. You can always add more later.


2. I used pre-sliced steak (the type intended for Korean BBQ) in this recipe and cooked it through. Alternatively, you can use a cut of steak, cook it to medium rare (you can refer to this recipe to cook the medium rare steak), and slice the beef before adding it to the salad. It will taste even better this way, but you might need a slightly higher quality steak. As another option, you can follow this recipe to create super tender beef on the stove top. It requires a bit more time than this recipe.


3. The beef could be prepared beforehand and served cold. However, I found the beef is much more tender when it’s freshly cooked and is still warm. Authentic beef salad is always served warm.


4. You could use other combination veggies, for example, mixed green salad instead of spinach.

By: Maggie Zhu

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