Stranger Foods

VietnameseLemongrass and pineapple beef vermicelli salad

Serves 4 | Prep 20 mins | Cook 30 mins

Photograph of Lemongrass and pineapple beef vermicelli salad.

If there’s a dish that best shows off the intricacies of the flavours and textures of Vietnamese food, then this might be it. The contrasts are a delight: there’s hot meat and cold sauce, soft noodles and crunchy peanuts, and, of course, a spicy sauce laced with sweet, sour, salty and bitter notes. It’s a delight to the tastebuds!

Source: Vietnamese Made Easy

Ingredients

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Imperial

x0.5

500 g beef topside (top round)
200 g vermicelli rice noodles
1 cucumber, cut into thin matchsticks
3 carrots, ideally 1 yellow, 1 orange and 1 purple, cut into thin matchsticks
2 baby gem lettuce, finely shredded
80 g pea shoots
20 g coriander, roughly chopped
20 g Thai basil, leaves roughly chopped
1 tsp vegetable oil
400 ml pineapple fish sauce
4 tsp crispy fried shallots (or use store-bought)
40 g roasted unsalted peanuts, roughly crushed in a pestle and mortar

For the marinade

2 tbsp red chilli paste
2 tbsp garlic paste
2 tbsp lemongrass paste
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
3 chicken stock cubes, crumbled
5 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp ground black pepper

Instructions

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Cut the beef lengthways into strips 5 cm wide, then slice across the strips as thinly as you can.
Cook the noodles according to the packet instructions, then drain and set aside.
Put all the marinade ingredients into a large bowl and mix together well. Add the beef slices, then gently and evenly coat in the marinade, taking extra care as beef this thin is fragile. Place in the fridge for a minimum of , but up to for best results, taking it out to room temperature before cooking.
Before cooking the beef, place the noodles in the base of each serving bowl, then add the cucumber and carrot strips, along with the lettuce, pea shoots, coriander and Thai basil, then set aside.
Add the oil to a large frying pan over a high heat. When hot, add the beef (in 2 batches for best results) and cook for until well done. (The beef may be a little burnt around the edges from the honey and that’s perfect.)
Serve the beef on top of the vegetables, then pour over the pineapple fish sauce and sprinkle over the crispy fried shallots and peanuts to finish.

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