Heavenly beef flank salad

Chef Tom Hitchcock takes inspiration from Thailand’s heavenly beef (neua swarn), a Southeast Asian jerky made with sun-dried beef slices infused with coriander and cumin, to make a vibrant Northern Thai salad.

Credit: Jiwon Kim

• serves

  4

• prep

  30 minutes

• cook

  5 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 400 g beef flank steak
• 200 g cherry heirloom tomatoes, quartered
• 1 Lebanese cucumber, peeled, finely chopped
• 40 g eschallots, thinly sliced
• Lime, fish sauce and palm sugar dressing (see Note)
• Thinly sliced makrut lime leaf, micro red shiso, micro coriander, roasted rice (optional, see Note), to serve

For the beef marinade

• 20 g garlic cloves
• 15 g coriander roots, cleaned
• 1 g ground white pepper
• 30 g fish sauce
• 10 g sweet soy sauce

For the spiced dressing (makes extra)

• 10 g ginger, peeled
• 10 g galangal, peeled
• 6 g cumin seeds, toasted
• 2 g coriander seeds, toasted
• 300 g palm sugar
• 100 g fish sauce
• 150 g tamarind purée

Marinating time: 12 hours

Resting time: 10 minutes 

Instructions

1. To make the marinade for the beef, pound the garlic and coriander roots in a mortar and pestle to a rough paste. Stir through the remaining ingredients, then combine in a large bowl with the beef. Refrigerate for 12 hours before using.
2. When ready to cook, preheat a chargrill pan or barbecue over medium-high heat. Cook the marinated steak for 1-3 minutes, then flip and cook for a further 1-3 minutes, or until cooked to your liking. Remove to a large plate, cover and rest for 10 minutes before slicing.
3. To make the spiced dressing, in a mortar and pestle, pound the ginger and galangal to a smooth paste. Add the cumin and coriander seeds and lightly crack them in the mortar, then transfer to a small saucepan with the remaining dressing ingredients. Bring to a simmer and cook until the dressing registers 106.5˚C on a digital thermometer. Remove from the heat and cool in the refrigerator or over an ice-bath.
4. To serve, in a medium bowl combine the tomatoes, cucumber, eschallot and as much lime, fish sauce and palm sugar dressing (see Note) as you like. Thinly slice the beef.
5. Place the sliced beef onto a large serving plate, then spoon over a little of the spiced dressing. Top with the dressed tomato salad and garnish with lime leaves, micro herbs and a sprinkle of roasted rice (see Note).
   

Note

• To make the lime, fish sauce and palm sugar dressing, you will need equal quantities of fish sauce, palm sugar and lime juice. Heat the palm sugar and fish sauce in a saucepan, then remove from the heat, cool and stir through lime juice. Use as needed.
• To make the roasted rice, preheat the oven to 140˚C fan-forced. Spread out 1 kg white glutinous rice on a large baking tray. Slow-roast for 30 minutes, or until the rice is browned. Remove from the oven and allow to cool, then crush to a fine powder in a mortar and pestle.

Photography by Jiwon Kim.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.