Thai steak salad

I love Thai food, and one of the things that makes its taste distinct is the flavor of fish sauce. Fish sauce is widely used in Asian cuisine, and it is one of my favorite seasonings. Some people may find the smell offensive, but I think it can make anything taste good. Another element I love about Thai cuisine is the heat and spice in the dishes. This recipe is a keeper for the household – I drew inspiration from Chrissy Teigen’s mom’s yum nua (beef salad), and added some elements to make it more to my family’s liking. You can use any steak cut you prefer, but I made mine with ribeye, because who doesn’t love fatty steak cuts? For the greens I used a spring mix, but you can substitute with romaine, iceberg, or Boston lettuce. For an extra kick, add grilled jalapeños, charred but still with some crunch in it. I hope you enjoy!

Makes 2-4 salads

1 inch thick slice of ribeye in room temperature

2 tsp olive oil

4 small radishes, cleaned, and thinly sliced

1/4 c of cilantro leaves only

1/2 red onion, sliced into strips

2 jalapeños

2 tomatoes, sliced

For the dressing:

zest and juice of a lime

3 tbsp fish sauce

1 tbsp light soy sauce

2 tsp palm or coconut sugar

1 tsp sesame oil

2 tsp sambal oelek

1 tsp rice vinegar

thai chili powder or flakes

Mix all the ingredients for the dressing. Adjust the taste using fish sauce and red pepper flakes and set aside to allow the flavors to settle.

Preheat oven to 400 deg F. Generously season the steak with salt and pepper. Heat a cast iron grill on high. Add olive oil. When the pan is smoking hot, place the steak and cook it for 4 mins.Flip once and cook it for 3 mins more. Place the steak on a baking tray, and into a pre-heated oven. Bake until your desired doneness*.

Quickly grill the jalapeños in the cast iron pan (about 2-3 mins) and set aside. Meanwhile, add the radish into the dressing to marinate.

When the steak is at your desired doneness, remove from oven, cover with aluminum foil and let rest for ~10 mins. Then cut into thin slices.

Marinate the steak slices and onions in the dressing. Cut the jalapeños into thin slices. Combine all the ingredients onto a plate and serve with lime wedge.

*I prefer medium rare about 130-135 deg internal temperature. I cooked mine for 8 mins.