Dan Hong, Melissa Leong

Carpaccio of Beef with Thai Flavours

Preparation info

  • Difficulty

    Medium

  • Serves

    4

Appears in

top 1000Mr Hong

Mr Hong

By Dan Hong

Published 2014

  • About

Thai beef salad is one of my favourite salads. I wanted to make an elegant version of this dish at Lotus, so this is my interpretation of the classic. There are no tricks here, but as with sashimi or any meat you eat raw, this recipe relies on using the best-quality beef you can afford; it makes all the difference.

Ingredients

Roasted Rice

  • 4 tablespoons jasmine rice

For the Beef

  • 400 g (14 oz) piece good-quality beef fillet
  • sea salt flakes
  • vegetable oil, for rubbing

Dressing

  • 100 ml (3½ fl oz) freshly squeezed lime juice
  • 2½ tablespoons fish sauce
  • 2 bird’s eye chillies, finely chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, finely grated
  • 100 ml (3½ fl oz) vegetable oil

Garnish

  • 2 spring onions (scallion), thinly sliced
  • 15 leaves round leaf mint, finely chopped
  • 15 leaves Thai basil, finely chopped
  • 20 leaves coriander (cilantro), finely chopped
  • 4 leaves sawtooth coriander (cilantro), thinly sliced
  • 1 lemongrass stem, pale part only, very thinly sliced
  • 4 kaffir lime leaves, very thinly sliced

Method

Roasted Rice

Heat a small frying pan over a high heat and add the rice. Constantly move the pan and toss the rice to evenly toast the rice. Keep going until the rice turns dark brown and starts to smell really nutty – it should be on the verge of being burnt (but not quite). Transfer the rice to a mortar and use a pestle to grind it to a fine powder. Store in an airtight container.

For the Beef

Season the beef with salt and rub it evenly with oil. Heat a frying pan over a very high heat and, when the pan is hot, sear the beef until well browned on all sides. This should take no longer than 45 seconds, as you still want the meat to be raw inside. Transfer the beef to a plate and refrigerate for 30 minutes to firm up.

Dressing

Whisk all the ingredients together in a bowl and set aside.

To Serve

Cut the piece of beef into roughly 3 mm (⅛ inch) thick slices against the grain, which gives it a better mouthfeel. Distribute the beef evenly among four plates, trying not to overlap the slices too much. Season each slice with a few sea salt flakes, then whisk the dressing and spoon a little over each slice of meat. Garnish with the spring onions, herbs, lemongrass and lime leaves, making sure each slice of beef is covered. Finish with a sprinkling of roasted rice.

© 2014 All rights reserved. Published by Murdoch Books.