← Nouns Cooking · Thai

Ingredients

• 600 g beef rump, topside or flank, sliced with the grain into 5 mm strips
• 2 tbsp Fish sauce
• 1 tbsp Sugar
• 1 tsp Black pepper, coarsely crushed
• 1 tsp Coriander seeds, crushed (optional)
• 500 ml neutral oil, for frying
• 2 tbsp Fish sauce
• 3 tbsp lime juice
• 1 tsp Sugar
• 1 tsp toasted chilli flakes
• 1 tbsp toasted rice powder (khao khua)
• 1 Shallot, finely sliced
• 600 g steamed sticky rice, to serve (optional)

Method

1. Mix the beef with the fish sauce, sugar, pepper and coriander seeds and marinate for 1 hour in the fridge.
2. Lay the strips on a rack set over a tray. Dry them in a 70°C (160°F) fan oven with the door slightly open for about 3 hours, until dry and leathery on the outside but still a little supple inside. (Thai cooks dry them in strong sun for a day.)
3. Make the jaew by stirring the fish sauce, lime juice and sugar until dissolved, then adding the chilli, toasted rice and shallot.
4. Heat the oil in a wok to 170°C (340°F) and fry the beef in batches for 1–2 minutes, until dark and crisp at the edges. Don’t overdo it or it turns hard.
5. Drain and serve warm with the jaew and sticky rice.

Tips

• Slicing with the grain gives the classic chewy texture; across the grain makes it more tender.
• Dried, unfried beef keeps for a week in the fridge or months in the freezer.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Hungry in Thailand ImportFood Cooking with Nart