Tonight I had a celebration involving beer and sour beef. The beer was Deschutes’ Jubelale, about which I’ll have more to say tomorrow. The beef was not sauerbraten. It was a Thai salad. I’ll give you the recipe, but first I have to tell a self-aggrandizing but short story.
Last year I went to a food writers conference in West Virginia. One of the other attendees was Nancie McDermott, who has written some of the best Thai cookbooks around, including the very best Thai vegetarian cookbook, Real Vegetarian Thai. She writes regularly for [Fine Cooking](http://www.finecooking.com/); when you see her byline, just go ahead and make all the recipes. I was excited to meet her.
On the first day of the conference, this woman comes up to me and says, “Are you Mamster? I love your stuff about Thai food.” It was Nancie. (God: “Hey, are you Mamster? I love your work with Legos.”)
Here’s a recipe from my favorite of Nancie’s books, Quick & Easy Thai. I think of it as a companion volume to Rick Bayless’s Mexican Everyday. The recipes are highly approachable, but they don’t mess around with substitute ingredients or muted flavors.
I did mess around with Nancie’s recipe based on what I had in the house, but not much. In my daydreams I’m a chauvinistic Thai home cook, having friendly arguments with my neighbors about whether to use fresh or dried chiles, mint or cilantro, and so on.
**THAI BEEF SALAD**
Adapted from _Quick & Easy Thai_
*Leftover steak would be fine in this recipe. Last time I made it I also threw some cucumbers and daikon sprouts into the salad, and it was great.*
1 pound steak (such as rib-eye, strip, flank, or skirt), cooked medium-rare
3 tablespoons fish sauce
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons sugar
3 Thai or serrano chiles, minced, or to taste
2 tablespoons minced shallots
2 scallions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup coarsely chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon toasted rice powder
1. Stir together the lime juice, fish sauce, and sugar until the sugar is dissolved.
2. Thinly slice the steak and toss with the remaining ingredients. I find it easiest to do this by hand. Serve with sticky or jasmine rice.
I am seriously swooning over your recipe. I always get really excited when you post anything about Thai food. I had read your post about Pok Pok before going to Portland in March and it was one of the main places I wanted to visit. I had to order the waterfall beef and the green papaya salad. I had some leftover and it was hardcore delicious the next day eaten out of the box cold with our feet up in our hotel room. Amazing. I still daydream about it. I have to make this salad ASAP.
Pomegranate, I would say this recipe is quite similar to the waterfall beef at Pok Pok. You’re going to love it.
I just made the salad. It’s wonderful. I couldn’t get toasted rice powder — maybe it isn’t something you buy, what do I know. Dry-toasting rice on the stove and grinding it with a mortar and pestle worked fine.
Hey, Chris, sorry I didn’t give a note about the rice powder. It is something you make at home, preferably with white sticky rice, but any white rice is fine.
My copy of Real Vegetarian Thai just arrived… looks tasty!