Nam Tok Neua (Isaan Grilled Beef Salad)
Charred, juicy beef sliced and tossed warm with lime, fish sauce, roasted chilli, toasted rice, shallots and herbs.
- Region
- Isaan (Northeastern Thailand)
- Condiments
- Fish Sauce, Thai Soy Sauces
- Vegetables
- Bird’s Eye Chilli, Thai Shallots, Dried Red Chillies, Mint, Sawtooth Coriander, Coriander Leaves
- Fruits
- Lime
Ingredients
- 400 g beef sirloin, rump or flank steak
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce and 1 tsp sugar, to marinate
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 3 tbsp lime juice
- 1–2 tsp roasted chilli flakes
- 1½ tbsp toasted rice powder (khao khua, see larb moo)
- ½ tsp sugar
- 3 small shallots, thinly sliced
- 2 spring onions, sliced
- 1 large handful mint leaves and a small handful of coriander
- To serve: sticky rice, cucumber, cabbage and long beans
Instructions
Nam tok means waterfall, and the name is said to come from the juices that drip from the beef as it grills, or that run out when it is sliced. The beef is grilled until charred outside and pink inside, then sliced and dressed like larb.
Method
- Rub the beef with the soy sauce and sugar and leave it for 15 minutes.
- Grill or sear the beef over very high heat, ideally charcoal, for 3–4 minutes per side for medium-rare, depending on thickness. Rest for 5 minutes.
- Mix the fish sauce, lime juice, chilli flakes, rice powder and sugar in a bowl.
- Slice the beef thinly across the grain and add it to the bowl with any juices from the board. Toss so the warm beef soaks up the dressing.
- Add the shallots, spring onions, mint and coriander and toss gently. Taste and adjust: sour, salty, hot.
- Serve straight away with sticky rice and raw vegetables.
Cook’s tips
- Pork neck (kor moo yang) makes an excellent nam tok moo; grill it a little longer until just cooked through.
- Slice the beef as thinly as you can. Thin slices take up the dressing much better.
Aroy Mak Mak
Aroy Mak Mak is a small team writing about the food of Thailand and its neighbours: recipes you can cook at home, guides to the ingredients behind them, and places worth travelling for. The name means "very delicious" in Thai. Every recipe on the site lists its ingredients, timings and method in full, explains the techniques that matter, and suggests substitutes for ingredients that are hard to find outside Thailand. The guides to regions, condiments, vegetables and fruits explain what things are, how they are used and how to buy and store them. Place pages are researched from current sources, including the latest Michelin Guide Thailand, official websites and maps, and give addresses, opening hours and what to order. Where a detail could not be confirmed, it is left out rather than guessed.