Recipe: Thai Spicy Beef Salad (Yum Neue)

Thai Spicy Beef Salad "Yum neue"

Yam nuea literally means "tossed beef". This is a simple beef "salad", and can be eaten hot or cold. This should be on the hot side of neutral, but really is more spicy than "hot". It is normal to add sunstantial amounts of hot condiments to it to suit yourself

Ingredients:

1 pound tender beef--barbequed steak is good but any beef can be used. This is cut into eigth inch thick slices, and then into bite sized pieces.

Salad

1/4 cup sliced onions, separated
2 tomatoes, wedged
1/4 cup sliced cucumber
1/4 cup thinly sliced Thai chile peppers (Also known as birdseye chile peppers, these are small and one of the strongest varieties available)

Sauce

1/4 cup fish sauce
1/4 cup lime juice
1 tablespoon sweet dark soy sauce
3 tablespoons minced garlic
3 tablespoons minced ginger
3 tablespoons chopped coriander/cilantro (including the roots)
1/4 cup chopped green onions (spring onions)
1/4 cup chopped shallots (small red or purple onions)
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon chili oil

Barbeque the beef, and thinly slice it into bite sized pieces. Combine with the salad ingredients, and mix the sauce and toss the whole.

Serving

Serve with sticky rice, lettuce, condiments and dipping sauce.

Condiments

Serve with the usual Thai condiments. You can also add fish sauce, dark sweet soy, and hot chili sauce if you wish.

In Thailand the first two condiments below (Nam pla prik and Prik dong) are likely be on every household's table together with a separate small dish of plain white sugar and a separate small dish of ground chili powder. Spoonfulls of each are added to suit individual taste. You can make a portion of Nam pla prik and Prik dong and keep in a jar (non refrigerated) for serving as a condiment in this manner. These condiments keep very well.

Prik Si-iew wan, kratiem dong and Khing Ki mao are less common and usually served for particular dishes.

Nam pla prik

Put two thirds of a cup of Thai chile peppers in a 1 pint jar, and fill with fish sauce. Seal and keep for a week before using.

Prik dong

Put two thirds of a cup of Thai chile peppers in a 1 pint jar, and fill with white rice vinegar.

Prik si-iew wan

Put two thirds of a cup of jalapeno peppers in a 1 pint jar, and fill with sweet dark soy sauce.

Kratiem dong

Peel and slice two thirds of a cup of garlic, place it in the 1 pint jar, add 1 teaspoon of palm sugar, and one teaspoon of salt and half a teaspoon of MSG (optional but recomended) and topped up with white rice vinegar.

Khing ki mao

Julienne two thirds of a cup of fresh ginger (into match stick sized pieces). Place in the 1 pint jar. Add half a cup of whiskey (rice whiskey if available). Add 1/2 cup white rice vinegar, and fill up the jar with fish sauce.

dips

A useful "auxiliary dipping sauce" is made by mixing one part dark soy with one part Worcestershire sauce, one part fish sauce and one part hot mustard.

Another dipping sauce is the following (known as nam prik narok in Thai, it is translated as "Hell Fire Sauce" in English.)

Ingredients

oil to deep fry
2 pound of filleted white fleshed freshwater fish
2 cups Thai chile peppers
1/2 cup garlic
1/2 cup shallots
3 tablespoons shrimp paste
1/4 cup fish sauce
3-4 tablespoons palm sugar.

Flake the fish and deep fry until the flakes turn golden brown. Chop the chilis, shallots and garlic, then [charcoal] broil them briefly and beat the ingredients together in a mortar and pestle or food processor to form a smooth paste. Place in a small saucepan or wok, and cook on medium high until the mixture forms a bubbling paste.

The resultant sauce paste may be stored, when cold, in a tight fitting jar, for several weeks.

Variants: This can also be made with pork (yum moo), or even with shrimp (yum khoong). An interesting variant is to use thinly sliced luncheon meat or even Spam. Vegetarians can experiment with using a julienned vegetable mix in place of the meat.