Yam Nua – Thai Buffalo (or Beef) Steak Salad
August 25, 2016 • Meat & Poultry, Salads
A couple of months ago I had the pleasure of attending a Thai cooking class offered by Les Dames d’Escoffier Colorado (of which I’m a member), led by Thai Chef Kanitdhar “Nita” Chittivej, the former chef owner of the award-winning Chada Thai and Chao Praya Thai restaurants in Denver. She’s no longer in the restaurant kitchen, but she’s still full of energy and learning to cook with her was a blast. I loved everything, but will be sharing the Yam Nua recipe in this post. We started at the Thai market where I’ve never seen such beautiful produce.
Chef Nita instructed us about ingredients and showed us around the market as we gathered what we needed for our menu.
While she shared secrets about her favorite brands and choices…
…I marveled over what these actually were.
We cooked in a colleagues home kitchen and then dined on our creations together. Here’s the full menu:
Grilled Shrimp with Tamarind Sauce
Soba Noodles with Crab
And my favorite, which I’m sharing with you today, the Buffalo Steak Salad.- 1 pound buffalo (or beef) sirloin steak
- 4 tablespoons ground toasted rice/galangal (see note), divided
- ½ cup fish sauce
- ½ lime juice
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground chili powder
- ½ cup cilantro
- ½ cup mint leaves
- 2 large tomatoes, sliced
- 1 cucumber sliced
- 2 fresh kaffir lime leaves, very thinly sliced
- 1 small red onion, very thinly sliced
- 4-8 cups mixed greens
- Rub steak with half of the rice/galangal mixture and grill to medium rare or medium. Let stand before thinly slicing.
- Combine the remaining rice/galangal mixture with the fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, and chili powder and mix well. Combine the cilantro, mint, tomatoes, cucumber, lime leaves, red onion, and mixed greens in a large salad bowl. Toss with the dressing, add the sliced beef, and toss gently to combine.