Servings
Font
Back
0 from 15 votes

Thai Beef Salad (Yum Nua)

Where fresh meats fragrance and flavour. This amazing Thai beef salad (Yum Nua) is light, bright and jam packed with Thai flavours. Sweet, sour, salt & spice - it doesn’t get much better than this.

Prep Time
15 mins
Cook Time
15 mins
Marination
30 mins
Total Time
45 mins
Servings: 6
Calories: 161 kcal
Course: Side Dish , Main Course , Salad , Appetizer
Cuisine: Thai

Ingredients

For the Marinade
  • 1 tsp palm sugar (or white sugar)
  • 1 tbsp fish sauce
  • pinch white pepper
  • 1 ribeye steak (300g/11oz)
For the Dressing
  • 1 tbsp palm sugar (or white sugar)
  • 1 tbsp fish sauce
  • ½ lime (juice of)
  • 1 thai chilli (very finely chopped)
  • ¼ cup water
For the Salad
  • 1 shallot (large) (about ⅓ cup - sliced)
  • 1 cup cucumber (peeled & seeded* and cut into chunks) *see notes
  • 2 tomatoes (cut into chunks)
  • 1 red chilli (mild) (cut into slices)
  • 1 thai chilli (cut into thin slices - seeded or not - you decide)
  • 2 spring onions (scallions) (sliced)
  • 1 cup mint leaves
  • ½ cup cilantro (very roughly chopped)
  • ⅓ cup roasted peanuts (unsalted)

Instructions

To make the marinade
    Cup of Yum
  1. Combine the sugar, fish sauce and pepper and then coat the steak. Leave for 30 minutes to marinade.
To make the dressing
  1. Combine the palm sugar, fish sauce, lime juice, chilli and water and set aside.
To make the salad
  1. Cook the steak in either a frying pan or on a BBQ for 3-4 minutes per side, until nicely charred. Remove from the heat and rest for 10 minutes before slicing into very thin slices. Set aside to cool completely as you make the salad.
  2. Toss together the shallot, cucumber, tomato, red chillies, spring onion, mint and cilantro.Add the beef and half the dressing and gently toss to combine everything.Decant to a serving platter or bowl and scatter over the peanuts. Serve with dressing on the side to drizzle over as you wish.
  3. Serve with sticky or Jasmine rice. Personally I love to serve mine with Vietnamese broken rice, which is Jasmine rice broken into pieces. It's like rice couscous!

Notes

  • Some cucumbers feature more water than others, especially in the centre where the seeds are. To seed a cucumber is easy, just cut in half lengthways and using a teaspoon gently scrape out the seeds and watery centre.
  • Most varieties of cucumber have a tough skin that is better peeled off for this salad, with the exception of English/hothouse cucumber that doesn't need to be peeled.
  • Serving: Serve this salad right away for the best results. Once the salad is dressed, it will crunchy for a couple of hours, but not much longer. It’s at its best fresh – it WILL star OK the fridge for 24 hours, but honestly, just eat it right away!
  • Meats: Yum Nua is the beef version of this salad, but you can also use seafood (scallops, squid, shrimp), pork and chicken too.
  • Vegetables: You can change up the vegetables you use and even make it all-veg by adding a few more -  like  radishes, celery, beansprouts, raw julienned carrot, mini corn and blanched broccoli.
  • Noodles: You can add cooked (cold) noodles to this salad too. I sometimes add wide or thin rice noodles or on occasion egg noodles. It’ll make for a heartier version.

Nutrition Information

Calories 161kcal (8%) Carbohydrates 10g (3%) Protein 11g (22%) Fat 10g (15%) Saturated Fat 3g (15%) Polyunsaturated Fat 2g Monounsaturated Fat 4g Cholesterol 23mg (8%) Sodium 539mg (22%) Potassium 416mg (12%) Fiber 3g (12%) Sugar 4g (8%) Vitamin A 898IU (18%) Vitamin C 25mg (28%) Calcium 47mg (5%) Iron 2mg (11%)

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 6Serving

Amount Per Serving

Calories 161

% Daily Value*

Calories 161kcal 8%
Carbohydrates 10g 3%
Protein 11g 22%
Fat 10g 15%
Saturated Fat 3g 15%
Polyunsaturated Fat 2g 12%
Monounsaturated Fat 4g 20%
Cholesterol 23mg 8%
Sodium 539mg 22%
Potassium 416mg 9%
Fiber 3g 12%
Sugar 4g 8%
Vitamin A 898IU 18%
Vitamin C 25mg 28%
Calcium 47mg 5%
Iron 2mg 11%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.