Chef notes
This recipe is a 2-for-1, meaning it's two recipes in one. It's a great marinade for any meat you like to slap on the grill — like steaks, pork chops, or even lamb chops. And it's a great Thai dressing that you can use on way more than just lettuces. You can use it on anything you would call a salad.
Technique tip: Lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves can be frozen. It's always tough to buy just a few leaves or stalks, so chop them fine and keep them frozen in a zip lock bag for future use.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds beef flank steak
- 2 ounces (about 3 cloves) garlic, minced
- 2 ounces (about 1 cup) cilantro stems, minced
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1½ ounces soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons peanut oil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 stalk lemongrass, cleaned and minced
- 3 kaffir lime leaves, very thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
- 1/2 cup fish sauce
- 1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
- 6 cups mixed salad greens
- 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 English cucumber, seeded and thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup mint leaves
- 2 green onions, chopped
Preparation
For the marinade:
Place the flank steak in a medium-large zip top bag. Add all remaining ingredients on to the beef. Massage all the flavors into the beef for about 1 minute. Seal the bag and place it in the fridge for at least 2 hours to overnight.
For the salad dressing:
Heat a small saucepan over low heat. And oil, garlic, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and sweat for 1 minute or until the garlic just starts to turn light brown. Remove from heat and stir in the lime juice, fish sauce and brown sugar until thoroughly combined.
For the salad:
In a large bowl, toss the salad greens, red onion and cucumbers with most of the dressing. Leave a few spoons of dressing for drizzling. Toss the salad gently to combine.
To cook and serve:
Preheat grill to medium-high heat. Grill the marinated beef to your desired doneness, remove from grill and slice it against the grain into thin strips.
Place the grilled beef on top of the salad and garnish it with the mint leaves and green onions. Drizzle the remaining dressing on top of the salad.
