Vietnamese rare beef salad

 

Ingredients 

• 1/4 cup (35g) crushed roasted peanuts
• 2 tbs fried shallots
• Lime wedges and prawn crackers, to serve

Pickled vegetables

• 1 small red onion, halved, thinly sliced
• 1 small carrot, cut into matchsticks
• 1/4 cup (60ml) rice vinegar
• 1 tsp white sugar

Beef

• 200g very thinly sliced beef fillet (ask your butcher, or freeze the fillet, then slice as thinly as you can)
• 1/4 cup (60ml) lime juice
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1/2 tsp white sugar
• 1/4 tsp white pepper

Herb salad

• 1/2 cup coriander, roughly chopped, plus extra, to serve
• 1/2 cup Thai basil leaves, roughly torn, plus extra, to serve
• 1/4 cup mint leaves, roughly torn, plus extra, to serve
• 1 Lebanese cucumber, halved, seeds removed, thinly sliced diagonally
• 1 small red capsicum, cut into matchsticks
• 2 long red chillies, finely chopped
• 1 tbs toasted rice powder (see note)
• 2 tsp mirin

directions

• For the pickled vegetables, place all ingredients in a medium bowl with a large pinch of fine salt and mix well (vegetables don’t need to be fully covered in liquid). Chill for 1-2 hours (no longer, or vegetables will begin to break down).
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  For the beef, mix all ingredients well in a medium bowl with a large pinch of fine salt, then chill for at least 30 minutes or up to a maximum of 2 hours, making sure the beef is well coated in the marinade.
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  For the salad, combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Drain beef and pickled vegetables and toss through the salad.
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  Transfer salad to a serving platter. Garnish with peanuts, shallots and extra herbs, and serve with lime wedges and prawn crackers on the side.