Grilled Lemongrass Beef Noodle Salad – Recipe

With summer just around the corner, our root vegetable diets will slowly transition to a hot weather menu of all things grilled and boozy. I don’t get much of an appetite when it gets hot… Ok, no, I lied, I’m always hungry, but I know a lot of people who don’t like to eat heavy during the hot summer days. I’ve been making this dish for a couple of years after I managed to convince my friend’s mom to give me her prized lemongrass chicken marinade. I tweaked it a bit by including sesame oil and it came out successful when used with beef. This quick and easy dish is a great option for summer when you want to keep your evening meals light – leftovers make a great lunch as well. Packed to the brim with aromatic herbs and crispy lettuce dressed with a tangy fish sauce dressing, this noodle salad will fill you up and not weigh you down.

Serves 4.
Ingredients
Marinade:
1 pound beef tenderloin (sliced thin)
2 stalks lemongrass (minced)
6 cloves garlic (minced)
2 tablespoon fish sauce
3 tablespoon brown sugar
2 table spoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon ground pepper
1 teaspoon sesame oil

Dressing:
3 cloves garlic (minced)
2 tablespoon fish sauce
2 tablespoon sugar
10 tablespoon water
Juice of half a lime
1 finely sliced Thai chili pepper (optional)
1 tablespoon shredded carrot (optional)

For the bowl:
1 package of rice noodles
4 whole romain lettuce leaves – to line the bowl
4 cups shredded lettuce
1 cup Thai basil (coarsely chopped)
1 cup mint leaves (coarsely chopped
1 cup bean sprouts
Sliced cucumbers
Peanuts
Sliced Thai chili peppers (optional)

If you’ve never used lemongrass before, there are a few things to keep in mind. The usable part of the lemongrass only goes about half way up the stalk. Use the back of your knife to pound and bruise it to release some of the oil and finely chop it – it’s naturally very woody and fibrous, so the finer you get it, the easier it’ll be to eat. You’ll be able to tell where to stop chopping when it stops being fragrant – you can use the entire thing if you’re making soup.

Slice beef thinly and place into a bowl with the rest of the marinade ingredients. Cover and set aside to marinade for 20 mins.

In the meantime, in a separate bowl, combine dressing.

Prepare your rice noodles according to the directions on the package. Rinse with cold water and set aside. This is the brand I use in all of my recipes, I find that they cook fast and the noodles stay firm and don’t turn into mush.

Cook your beef on the grill being careful not to over cook it – you can also pan-fry the beef.

Line the bottom of your bowl with a whole lettuce leaf (you’ll see why), top with noodles, shredded lettuce, basil, mint, bean sprouts, cucumber, and garnish with peanuts, and sliced chilies. Spoon the dressing according to taste and serve immediately.

You can forgo all the pageantry an toss the shredded lettuce, basil, mint, bean sprouts with the noodles, top with beef and dressing in a large greedy bowl and pig out.

But this is why you line the bottom of your bowl with a whole lettuce leaf; to catch all the tasty bits of noodles and vegetables and rogue pieces of meat so that you can eat the last bite of your lemongrass beef noodle salad as a nice little lettuce wrap…! Annnnnd you’re welcome!

*Notes*
Dressing – Start with 3-4 tablespoons of hot water to dissolve the sugar before adding the rest. I know “10 tablespoons of water” may sound funny, but it really is the magic number. I’ve experimented over and over again by adding one tablespoon of water at a time until I hit the right taste. Try to spoon in some of the lime pulp as well. This sauce keeps well and will intensify in flavour the longer you keep it.

Noodles – I like to add a tablespoon of vegetable oil into the water to prevent the noodles from sticking to each other.

This recipe is so fast and ridiculously simple,the majority of the time you’re just washing vegetables – you’ll have this dish prepared in about 30 mins.

Having trouble finding a particular ingredient? Check out my Asian grocery store round up to find a market near you!