WeekTable
Menu
Plan my week
AI-generated photograph: Thin slices of pink medium rare grilled beef with charred edges tumbled with mint, coriander, sliced shallot and a dusting of golden toasted rice powder, heaped in the centre of a wide matte black stoneware plate, cucumber batons and a little gem leaf beside it, seen from a high angle

Home · Recipes · Nam tok neua, grilled beef with lime and toasted rice

Isan (north east Thai) · Dinner

Nam tok neua, grilled beef with lime and toasted rice

grilled steak · lime and chilli · toasted rice and mint

AI-generated photograph

Nam tok means waterfall, after the juices that run from the beef as it rests: here a grilled steak is sliced and tossed while warm with lime, fish sauce, dried chilli, shallots, mint and khao khua. Eaten with sticky rice and crisp raw vegetables, it is one of the great dishes of Isan.

Contains: fish, as written. Fish (fish sauce). Check the fish sauce has no wheat added. Khao khua is toasted sticky rice and has no gluten; if bought ready made, check the label.

Ingredients

  • 2 sirloin or rump steaks (about 300g each), at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
  • A pinch of fine salt
  • 3 tablespoons fish sauce
  • 4 tablespoons lime juice (about 3 limes)
  • 1 teaspoon caster sugar
  • 1 to 2 teaspoons dried chilli flakes
  • 2 tablespoons khao khua (toasted sticky rice ground to a coarse powder), bought from a Thai shop or made at home, see the tips
  • 3 small shallots, thinly sliced
  • 3 spring onions, sliced
  • A large handful of mint leaves
  • A handful of coriander leaves
  • To serve: half a cucumber, cut into batons, and 1 little gem lettuce, leaves separated

Plan a week with Isan (north east Thai) dishes

Let's cook

  1. Rub the steaks with the oil and a pinch of salt. Heat a griddle pan or heavy frying pan on a high heat until very hot, or use a hot barbecue.
  2. Cook the steaks for 3 to 4 minutes on each side for medium rare, longer if you like it more done. Whole steaks are safe served pink in the middle because any bacteria sit on the outside, which is seared.
  3. Lift the steaks onto a board and rest them for 5 minutes. Keep the juices that run out: they are the waterfall.
  4. Meanwhile, mix the fish sauce, lime juice, sugar and chilli flakes in a large bowl until the sugar dissolves.
  5. Slice the steak thinly across the grain and add it to the bowl with the resting juices, while it is still warm, so it drinks up the dressing.
  6. Add the khao khua, shallots and spring onions and toss well. Add the mint and coriander last and toss once more so they stay fresh.
  7. Taste for balance: sour and salty first, then heat. Pile onto a plate and serve straight away with the cucumber and lettuce, and sticky rice on the side.

Tips

  • To make khao khua yourself, toast 3 tablespoons of uncooked sticky rice in a dry frying pan on a medium low heat, stirring often, for 8 to 10 minutes until deep golden and smelling of popcorn. Cool, then grind to coarse sand in a pestle and mortar or spice grinder. It keeps for 2 weeks in a sealed jar.
  • Do not dress the beef more than a few minutes before eating: the herbs wilt and the rice powder goes soggy.
  • Leftover dressed beef keeps covered in the fridge for 1 day; eat it cold rather than reheating it.

Swaps

  • Cheaper: use 600g bavette or onglet steak, cooked rare to medium rare and sliced very thinly.
  • Pork: use 600g pork shoulder steaks, grilled until cooked through to 75C, for nam tok moo (moo means pork).

Our own recipe. The photograph is AI-generated.

From the same kitchen

What goes with it.