Beef & Lemongrass Vermicelli Salad
An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
- 250g/8.83ozs rump steak
- 1 tablespoon bicarb of soda
- 80g/2.82ozs. dried vermicelli
- 4 sticks lemongrass (white part only), sliced finely
- 1 large red chilli, cut in half
- 1 clove garlic, peeled and sliced
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce plus 2 tablespoons extra
- 1 tablespoon honey or sugar
- Oil for frying
- 3 stick green onions, sliced into inch long pieces
- 1/2 small head of broccoli, cut into small florets
- 1 carrot, cut into matchstick pieces
- 5 cherry tomatoes
- 3 sprigs of fresh mint
Step 1 - Slice the beef thinly removing any white sinew carefully. Sprinkle with the bicarb and a couple of tablespoons of water and allow to tenderise for 10 minutes. You can skip this step and go straight to marinating the beef in lemongrass if you want a pink centered beef slices. Soak the vermicelli in warm water for 10 minutes and then drain.
Step 2 - Meanwhile make the marinade and prep the veggies. In a mortar and pestle pound the lemongrass, half a chilli, garlic, fish sauce and honey or sugar together until you get a paste. Cut up the rest of the ingredients.
Step 3 - Place the beef in a sieve and wash the bicarb off thoroughly making sure to get any fine grains off (very important). Mix the beef in the lemongrass marinade for as long as you want or you can use it straight away. Heat a frypan on high heat and add oil. Fry the beef in two batches and then remove from pan and set aside.
Step 4 - Add more oil and fry the green onions and broccoli for a couple of minutes. Add the carrot and then the vermicelli. Drizzle with some more fish sauce and toss to coat and then add the beef back to the pan and cook through.
Step 5 - Place on serving platter with cherry tomatoes, fresh mint and the other half of the chilli chopped up.