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Vietnamese Beef Noodle Salad | DonalSkehan.com, Quick & tasty midweek dinner!
  • main-meals

Vietnamese Beef Noodle Salad

July 10

The food of South East Asia and in particular Vietnam continues to excite me. The streets of the capital city Hanoi, are lined with food vendors, each one specialising in their trademark street food snack. For very little money you can experience a dish that has been mastered by repetition and championed by local diners who vote on their favourite dish with their feet. While it may seem like this dish has a lot of ingredients, this simple beef noodle dish can be made in a few minutes and should evoke the taste and smell of Vietnam’s busiest street food alleys.

  • serves Serves 2
  • time 25mins

Method

  1. 1. Place the beef strips in a bowl and add the fish sauce, half the garlic, half the shallots and half the lemongrass. Leave to marinate for 20 minutes while you prepare the remaining ingredients.
  2. 2. Whisk together all the ingredients for the dressing until the sugar has dissolved, then loosen with 1-2 tablespoons of water. Set aside.
  3. 3. Divide the cooked and cooled noodles between 2 deep bowls and top with the beansprouts, cucumber and herbs.
  4. 4. Heat a wok or frying pan over a high heat. Add the oil and just as it begins to smoke add the remaining garlic and lemongrass and shallots to the wok.
  5. 5. Stir-fry for 1–2 minutes, until it becomes aromatic. Immediately add the beef and the marinade and stir-fry for 2–3 minutes, allowing it to sit in the pan every now and then without stirring to ensure it gets a good colour and chars slightly.
  6. 6. Divide the contents of the pan between the 2 bowls and top with the roasted peanuts. Spoon over the dressing and garnish with a few mint leaves. Serve while the beef is still warm.

Ingredients

11oz rump steak, trimmed of fat and thinly sliced

2 tbsp fish sauce

1 garlic cloves, very finely chopped

1 lemongrass stalk, roughly bashed and finely sliced

1 tbsp rapeseed oil

2 shallots thinly sliced

Roasted peanuts, roughly chopped, to serve

For the salad:

5oz flat rice noodles, cooked and cooled

Large handful of beansprouts

½ cucumber, halved and sliced thinly

Handful of fresh mint leaves, roughly chopped, plus extra to garnish

Handful of fresh coriander leaves, roughly chopped

For the Nuoc Cham Dressing:

4 tbsp fish sauce

Juice of 1 lime

1 tbsp caster sugar

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

3 red and green chillies, finely chopped

300g rump steak, trimmed of fat and thinly sliced

2 tbsp fish sauce

1 garlic cloves, very finely chopped

1 lemongrass stalk, roughly bashed and finely sliced

1 tbsp rapeseed oil

2 shallots thinly sliced

Roasted peanuts, roughly chopped, to serve

For the salad:

125g flat rice noodles, cooked and cooled

Large handful of beansprouts

½ cucumber, halved and sliced thinly

Handful of fresh mint leaves, roughly chopped, plus extra to garnish

Handful of fresh coriander leaves, roughly chopped

For the Nuoc Cham dressing

4 tbsp fish sauce

Juice of 1 lime

1 tbsp caster sugar

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

3 red and green chillies, finely chopped

You'll Need

Bowl

Wok or frying pan