Vietnamese Beef Salad

Name: Vietnamese Beef Salad
Cuisine: Asian
Ingredients: 300g veal/beef tenderloin; 1/2 small red onion; 2 carrots; 5 small fresh cucumbers; 1/2 red bell pepper; 1 hot pepper; 5 sprigs parsley (or cilantro); 1 handful roasted peanuts (about 50g); marinade; 50 ml soy sauce; 50 ml water; juice of 2 limes; 5 crushed garlic cloves; 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder; 1 teaspoon sugar; 1 pinch ginger powder

July 25, 2009

Asian Simple Recipes Valentine's Day Veal Low Calorie Recipes Vegetables Salads

I discovered this recipe at a Romanian-Vietnamese cultural event organized in Cluj where the owner of the "Asia Food Cooking" restaurant from Pitesti, Dang Sony, was invited to cook for us. Of all the dishes I tasted, I especially loved the salad because it was so simple and at the same time amazingly delicious.

Yesterday I tried to recreate it and I think I succeeded 😉. Obviously I adapted it a bit and cut the vegetables into strips, not rounds, and I did not use cilantro, I do not like the taste at all, but I replaced it with parsley and it was better for me.

Ingredients

300g veal/beef tenderloin
1/2 small red onion
2 carrots
5 small fresh cucumbers
1/2 red bell pepper
1 hot pepper
5 sprigs parsley (or cilantro)
1 handful roasted peanuts (about 50g)

Marinade

50 ml soy sauce
50 ml water
juice of 2 limes
5 crushed garlic cloves
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon sugar
1 pinch ginger powder

Servings: 3

How to prepare vietnamese beef salad

Mix all the ingredients for the marinade. Set aside 4 tablespoons in a small cup. Pour the rest of the marinade over the beef tenderloin and refrigerate for minimum 1 hour, maximum 1 day (I left it for 1 hour).
Cut the vegetables as follows:
- carrots into thin strips using a vegetable peeler;
- cucumbers into thin strips using the same tool (but only up to the seedy part!);
- bell pepper into the thinnest possible slices;
- hot pepper into rounds (remove seeds if desired);
- onion into very thin scales;
- chop the parsley as finely as possible.
Mix all the vegetables in a bowl.
In a mortar, I crushed the peanuts until I got smaller pieces.
I took the beef tenderloin out of the marinade and dried it with kitchen towels. I placed it on a hot cast iron grill (oiled with just a drop of oil) and left it for 3 minutes on each side and then 1 more minute on the sides.
I placed the tenderloin on a wooden cutting board and let it rest for 5 minutes.
Then I sliced it very thin. The beef tenderloin at this point is rare in the middle. If you like it, you can leave it like that. If not, take the meat slices and place them on the still-hot grill (I turned off the heat under it) and leave for a few seconds on each side. They should not be left long, or they will not be juicy anymore. Cut the slices in half to have thinner strips.
Add the meat slices over the vegetables. Pour the marinade from the cup over them and mix well. Add the peanuts and mix again. Serve immediately or keep refrigerated.