Vietnamese noodle and beef salad

This main course beef salad is tasty, yet light. Add extra herbs if you fancy, add basil, Thai basil or even flat-leaf parsley with the mint. 

PREPARATION TIME: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 8 minutes
Serves 4

Ingredients

  • 500 g beef strips
  • 1 stalk lemon grass, finely chopped
  • 1 small red chilli, seeded and chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp fish sauce
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 200 g mung bean thread vermicelli
  • 1 tbsp oil
  • 2 spring onions, finely sliced
  • 1 red capsicum, cut into strips
  • 1 punnet cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 1 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
  • 2 tbsp mint leaves
  • lime wedges to serve

Method

  1. Place the beef strips in a bowl. Pound together the lemon grass, chilli and garlic in a mortar or blender. Add the fish sauce, soy sauce and sugar, mix well. Combine with the beef strips, marinate for 30 minutes.
  2. Soak the noodles in boiling water until just tender (about 5 minutes). Drain and snip into manageable lengths with scissors. Add the oil to the beef, mix well
  3. Heat the wok, ensure it is hot. Stir-fry the beef strips in 3 batches, reserving each cooked batch to rest in a bowl. Reheat wok between each batch.
  4. Toss beef together with the noodles, spring onion, capsicum and tomatoes. Scatter with the sesame seeds and mint.

    Serving suggestion: Serve with lime wedges if desired.

Essential tips

  • Cook meat in small batches, at a maximum of 250g at a time. When you add the meat to the wok, work from the outer side of the wok into the centre where it will be hottest.
  • Best beef cuts for stir-frying: Use beef stir-fry strips or prepare your own from rib eye/scotch fillet/tenderloin, sirloin/porterhouse/New York, rump, boneless blade, round, oyster blade or topside steaks.

Simon Garlick