• 350 g (12 oz) beef fillet, thickly sliced across the grain
• 100 g (3½ oz) snow peas (mangetout), trimmed
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3 tablespoons grated palm sugar (jaggery)
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 50 g (1¾ oz) fresh black fungi, torn
• 1 tablespoon chopped coriander (cilantro) leaves
• juice of half a lime

Spice Paste

• 2 dried long red chillies, deseeded, soaked in warm water for 30 minutes and chopped
• 3 red shallots, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tablespoon chopped galangal
• 2 lemongrass stalks, tough outer leaves removed, chopped
• 6 coriander (cilantro) roots, scraped and chopped
• ½ teaspoon coriander seeds, roasted and crushed
• 6 white peppercorns, roasted and crushed
• 1 teaspoon sea salt

Pound the spice paste ingredients in a mortar with a pestle until you have a fine paste. Or process in a blender, adding a little water if necessary.

Heat a wok until just smoking. Add the vegetable oil and, when hot, stir-fry the beef in batches until well browned, then remove from the wok. Add the paste to the wok and stir-fry until fragrant, then add the palm sugar and fish sauce. Return the beef to the wok with the snow peas and black fungi and stir-fry for a minute or so to integrate the flavours. Stir through the coriander and season with the lime juice to serve.