Thai beef salad

SERVES 2 AS A MAIN OR 4 AS A STARTER

2 x 250g (9 oz) porterhouse steaks

2 garlic cloves

2 cm (¾ inch) piece of fresh ginger, grated

1 bunch of mint

3 tablespoons soy sauce

150 g (5½ oz) glass noodles (very fine rice noodles)

1 bunch of coriander (cilantro) with roots

2 small red chillies, chopped

juice of 2–3 limes

3 tablespoons fish sauce

2–3 tablespoons grated palm sugar (jaggery)

1 carrot, peeled and julienned

1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and julienned

½ red onion, thinly sliced

1 handful bean sprouts, trimmed

150 g (5½ oz) enoki mushrooms, trimmed

1 butter lettuce

1 mignonette lettuce

peanut oil

crushed peanuts, to garnish

Trim all the fat off the steak and put into a bowl. Add 1 crushed garlic clove, the ginger, 6 finely chopped mint leaves, the soy sauce and season with salt and pepper. Give it a good mix and let the steak marinate while you make the dressing and salad.

Place the noodles into a bowl, pour over boiling water and stand for 3 minutes or until soft, drain, rinse under cold water and drain again.

To make the dressing, put 3–4 scraped coriander roots in a mortar. Add the remaining clove of garlic and pound these into a paste, adding a little more salt if needed. Add the chillies and pound until it is incorporated into the coriander and garlic. Add the lime juice, fish sauce and palm sugar. Give it all a good grind and, if necessary, pour the dressing into a heatproof bowl and hold it over a gentle flame to warm through and help melt the palm sugar into the mixture. The key to a Thai dressing is the balance between hot (chilli), salty (fish sauce), sour (lime juice) and sweet (palm sugar). As we all have our own individual palate you may need to adjust these measures to suit your own palate, so taste and explore. The first time I made this I didn’t sweeten it nearly enough and it was all sour and salt!

For the salad: In a bowl, combine the carrot, cucumber, onion, bean sprouts, mushrooms, a handful of finely chopped coriander leaves, 6 or so roughly torn leaves from each of the lettuces, a handful of roughly torn mint leaves and the glass noodles. Mix so everything is combined and then spoon over half the dressing and mix again.

Fry the steak in a frying pan in a little peanut oil over high heat for 3 minutes each side for medium-rare, or until cooked to your liking. Let the steak rest for a few minutes and then slice thinly.

Take a nice handful of salad and place in the middle of a plate, arrange some meat slices on top and spoon over the rest of the dressing, then scatter with some crushed peanuts to serve.

Make sure you reserve the left-over lettuce for another day. Alternatively, you could use a salad mix or just one style of lettuce. I used two types for the flavour and colour they added to the dish.