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Bò tái chanh
Lime-cured beef salad
Bò tái chanh: thin beef dressed with lime, onion, herbs and peanuts (blanched version)
In Saigon's beer gardens bò tái chanh arrives as the first plate of the evening, a sharp, herb-heavy pile of thin beef slices dressed in lime juice and fish sauce with onion, rau răm and peanuts, scooped up with sesame rice crackers. Street cooks often leave the beef almost raw and let the lime 'cook' it; lime does not make beef safe, so this home version blanches the slices for a few seconds until they are cooked at least to medium, still tender and rosy at the centre. Chef's tip: squeeze out the lime juice before dressing; beef left sitting in a pool of lime turns grey and chewy.
- Total time
- 20 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
- 14 oz beef fillet or sirloinpartly frozen and sliced paper-thin across the grain
- 4 tbsp lime juice
- 1 red onionthinly sliced
- 1 ½ tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 2 cloves garlicminced
- 2 red bird's-eye chilliessliced
- 1 handful Vietnamese coriander (rau răm)
- 1 handful sawtooth coriander or corianderchopped
- 1 oz roasted peanutscrushed
- 2 tbsp crispy fried shallots
- 2 sesame rice crackers (bánh đa) (optional)grilled or microwaved until puffed
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Method
0/5 doneStep 1: Bring a saucepan of water to a rolling boil. Drop in the 14 oz beef fillet or sirloin slices in two batches and stir for 15–20 seconds, until the outsides turn pale brown and the centres are just pink, then lift out into a sieve.
3 minStep 2: Toss the warm beef with 4 tbsp lime juice and leave for 2 minutes, then squeeze the slices gently and pour off the juice.
3 minStep 3: Stir 1 ½ tbsp fish sauce, 1 tbsp sugar, 2 cloves garlic and 2 red bird's-eye chillies until the sugar dissolves.
2 minStep 4: Toss the beef with 1 red onion, 1 handful Vietnamese coriander (rau răm), 1 handful sawtooth coriander or coriander and the dressing.
2 minStep 5: Pile on a plate, scatter over 1 oz roasted peanuts and 2 tbsp crispy fried shallots and serve with 2 sesame rice crackers (bánh đa) for scooping.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 240 kcal
- Protein
- 27 g
- Carbs
- 10 g
- Fat
- 10 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does bò tái chanh take?
- About 20 minutes in total: 15 minutes to prepare and 5 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of lime juice?
- Lemon juice, same amount.
- What can I use instead of red onion?
- White onion or shallots, same amount (soak raw onion in cold water for 10 minutes to soften it).
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