Thai Beef Waterfall Salad

Ingredients

• 2 12-ounce hanger steaks (or tri tip steak)
• ½ cup soy sauce (light)
• 1 Tablespoon coarse black pepper
• 1 Tablespoon fish sauce
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 fresh Thai chilis (diced or 1 Tablespoon dried thai chili flakes)
• 2 Tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 5 small shallots (thinly sliced)
• 1 cup fresh cilantro (roughly chopped)
• ½ cup fresh mint (roughly chopped)
• ¼ cup green onions (whites and greens, thinly sliced)
• ½ cup jasmine rice (or raw Thai sticky rice)

Steps

1. 1

   Marinate the steaks. Place the steaks in a bowl large enough to hold them all. Pour ½ cup of light soy sauce over the steaks, then add 1 Tablespoon of coarse ground black pepper. Massage all the steaks to ensure each side is coated in the soy sauce and black pepper. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the fridge to allow the steaks 1 hour to marinate.

2. 2

   Preheat the grill and roast the rice. Set your grill up for high heat grilling with an overall temperature between 400 and 450 degrees F. Place a 12-inch cast iron skillet on the grates. Pour ½ cup uncooked jasmine rice in the skillet, then shake or stir occasionally until toasted. You want to stir every minute or so to avoid burning. This process should take about 10 to 15 minutes if doing so while your grill heats up. If you try to toast the rice once the grill is already at full temperature, the rice will likely toast much faster.

3. 3

   Grind the rice. Remove the toasted rice to a bowl to cool for a few minutes, then pour it into a spice grinder and grind it into a rough powder. You can also do this using a mortar and pestle, but it will take a bit longer. Set aside.

4. 4

   Grill the steaks. Place the marinated steaks directly on the grill grates over high heat, flipping everything 30 seconds. Grill the steaks for 6 to 10 minutes, or until they reach an internal temperature about 5 degrees F below your desired doneness. The USDA recommends cooking beef steak to an internal temperature of 145 degrees F using an instant-read meat thermometer. However, the beef in this salad is traditionally served rare so I pulled my steaks when they reached 115 degrees F. Carryover cooking will continue to cook the steaks while they rest, which will take them up to that 120 to 125 degrees F for rare.

5. 5

   Make the dressing. In a medium-size bowl, combine the roughly chopped cilantro and mint, the thinly sliced green onions and shallots, and the diced Thai chilis. Drizzle everything with the fish sauce, sprinkle with the sugar, and squeeze the fresh lime juice. Gently stir the dressing together with a rubber spatula until everything is incorporated.

6. 6

   Slice, mix, serve, and enjoy. Once the steaks are rested, slice them thin using a sharp knife. Remember, this is a salad so you want thin, tender slices that can easily be eaten using a fork. Place the sliced steak into the bowl of dressing, then gently toss everything together. Sprinkle everything with the toasted rice powder, serve, and enjoy!