Recipe: Thai sliced steak salad with hot and sour sauce

Songkran, also known as Thai New Year is celebrated in Thailand from 13 to 16 April. The tradition during this time is the throwing of water, where Thais go around drenching each other in water - this activity symbolises new beginnings as the water is meant to wash all the bad away. To celebrate the Thai New Year, I will be posting a few Thai recipes in the next few days.

Thai sliced steak with hot and sour sauce

I love eating Thai food very much, especially the hot and sour tom yums, Thai pineapple fried rice and the different Thai curries. When I saw the cookbook "Little Taste of Thailand" at the BBW Sale, I grabbed it as I would love to try cooking more Thai food at home. Thai food is described as "startlingly bold and imaginative" and combines beautiful presentation, fragrant aromas, contrasting yet complementing flavours and textures which appeals to all senses.

As you all know, I also love steaks so this recipe for Sliced steak with hot and sour sauce instantly appealed to me. It's sort of like a salad topped with strips of tender steak.

It is important to choose a good cut to fully enjoy the dish. I used a Wagyu rump, cooked for 4 minutes using the Heston Blumenthal method to medium rare perfection. It was tender and complemented well by the hot and sour sauce. There is just a little heat from the chilli powder and is very appetizing, thanks to the lime juice used. Hubby is usually not a fan of Thai food, since he had a bad experience once at Singapore but he loved this dish. Thai food is not just about being spicy, but a balance of sweet (sugar), sour (lime juice), and salty (fish sauce) too.

Thai sliced steak with hot and sour sauce
Recipe by Baby Sumo, adapted from Little Taste of Thailand
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 4 minutes
Serves 4


Ingredients
350g sirloin, rump or fillet steak (I used Wagyu rump)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp fish sauce
4 tbsp lime juice
1 1/2 tsp soft brown sugar
1/4 tsp roasted chilli powder
3 shallots, finely sliced

To garnish
A few lettuce leaves
2 tbsp coriander, finely chopped (I substituted with English parsley)
2 tbsp mint leaves, finely chopped

1. Cook steak according to preference (I use the Heston method, flip the steak every 20 seconds and cook for a total of 4 mins for medium rare (4 mins)- see Steps 1 & 2 in this post) and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Slice at an angle into thin long strips. Season with salt.

2. Mix the fish sauce, lime juice, sugar and chilli powder in a large bowl. Taste and adjust seasoning accordingly. Add the shallots and beef slices, and then toss to coat. (Note: Do not leave the beef in the lime juice for too long before serving as it will continue "cooking" the meat)

3. Line a serving plate with lettuce leaves, then spoon the beef and sauce over the leaves. Sprinkle with coriander and mint leaves and serve immediately with white rice.

Sawatdi pi mai (that's Happy New Year in Thai) to all my Thai readers and friends :)


More tan-Thai-lising recipes here: Thai pineapple fried rice, Thai sweet and sour pork and Thai sticky rice with mangoes.


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*This recipe was featured on Fabulous Food Blog Recipes on 15 April 2013 and DailyBuzz Food - Steak Night on 17 May 2013.