Thai Grilled Beef Noodle Salad 🌶 🇹🇭

  

 

Noodle salads are synonymous with warm summer days.  They are appetisingly light and refreshing with plenty of fresh herbs, doused in a piquant south east Asian style dressing.  This Thai version featuring tender scotch fillet steak or rump steak, rice vermicelli noodles, cucumbers and cherry tomatoes requires little cooking.  After marinating the beef with some fish sauce and lime juice, put them on a grill pan or the barbecue to sear on both sides. They might be expensive cuts but you only need a small amount.  This is one of those recipes where meat is used like a garnish, exploiting its flavour without making it central to the dish.  Slice them up thinly and arrange on top of the cold noodle salad.  Take it outside to enjoy under the verandah if the breeze is in.

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS

• 250g / 9oz scotch fillet steak or rump steak
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 150g / 5¼oz dried rice vermicelli noodles
• 130g / 4½oz cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1-2 Lebanese cucumbers (about 180g / 6⅓oz)
• ½ cup loosely packed mint or basil leaves
• ½ cup loosely packed coriander leaves
• lime wedges, to serve

For the dressing:

• 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 3 tablespoons lime juice
• 1 tablespoon palm sugar or brown sugar
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1-2 red chillies, finely chopped (deseed if you like to tone down the heat)

METHOD

1. Bring a large pot of water to the boil.  Add rice vermicelli noodles and cook for about 5 minutes or according to package instructions, stirring occasionally.  Drain and rinse under cold water.  Leave in a colander to dry. 
2. Cut the cucumbers lengthwise and scoop out the seeds.  Slice thinly.
3. In a dish, marinade the beef steaks with fish sauce and lime juice for half an hour.
4. In a bowl or jar, make the dressing by combining all ingredients.  Stir to dissolve sugar.
5. Drain beef and discard the marinade.  Sear the steaks on a heated oiled grill pan or barbecue on both sides and cook to your liking.  Remove and let them rest, covered, for 5 minutes.  Slice against the grain into thin strips.
6. Divide and spread the noodles out on two serving plates.  Arrange the beef, cucumbers, tomatoes, mint/basil leaves and coriander leaves on top.  Drizzle the dressing evenly over each plate.  Serve with lime wedges.