Pepper's Thai Steak Salad
- SERVES: 2 to 4 people
- PREP: 5 minutes
- TOTAL TIME: 5 minutes
This super-easy and flavorful recipe makes use of leftover steak in the best way.
Whenever they have a date night at home, John and Chrissy love to order delivery from their favorite steakhouse. Have you ever seen a 2-pound dry-aged wagyu rib eye delivered by Postmates? I have. I use leftovers to make my famous beef salad, called yum nuea in Thai. I’ve been making this recipe since Chrissy was in diapers, though back then I used cheaper cuts like flank steak or chuck roast, which can be just as tasty. I even used to send it with her and Tina for their school potlucks. The beef should be well marbled and on the rare side, since the lime juice in the dressing will “cook” the steak a little more.
Usually I just cut up steak straight from the fridge to make salad—dinner in ten minutes or less. I tossed together a giant platter of this yum nuea when Chrissy was a guest on Ellen’s show, as a snack for all the people working backstage. They loved it so much, they sent me a beautiful thank-you note, which is more than I can say for Chrissy’s elementary school class!
Reprinted from The Pepper Thai Cookbook Copyright © 2021 by Vilailuck Teigen Photographs copyright © 2021 by Jenny Huang. Published by Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Random House.
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice (1 to 2 limes)
2 tablespoons fish sauce, plus more to taste
2 tablespoons Toasted Rice Powder, store bought or homemade
½ teaspoon Roasted Chile Powder, plus more for garnish, store bought or homemade (recipe below)
1 pound leftover steak, cold is fine, sliced against the grain into bite-size pieces
2 plum tomatoes, cut into wedges
2 Persian (mini) cucumbers or ½ hothouse cucumber, peeled, halved lengthwise, and thinly sliced
½ medium red onion, halved and sliced
4 scallions, thinly sliced
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Handful of fresh mint leaves
For the Roasted chile powder (if making)
2 cups dried red chiles, such as Thai, de árbol, or japones
For serving
Cooked sticky rice or jasmine rice
Romaine lettuce leaves
Cucumber slices
Basil, cilantro, and/or mint leaves
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The three musketeers of the kitchen—a cleaver for cutting through hard skins and breaking down a whole bird, Chrissy's Go-To Santoku Knife for slicing, dicing, and all things prep, and a paring knife for peeling and making controlled, precise cuts—are all you need to handle most daily cooking needs, and an ideal trio to kick off a knife collection.Full-tang blades run to the base of the handles for optimum control and balanced weight. The triple-riveted ashwood handles look cute on a tablescape, without having to buy seperate knives for serving.
A do-it-all duo of two handmade wooden serving bowls (with handles!) that nest together for easy storage. Each one-of-a-kind piece is made from a single piece of wood and features unique variations. Fill them with your favorite salads, guacamole and dips, or taco fillings to pass around the table.Set Includes: One 12.6" x 9.75" Bowl One 14.4" x 11.75" Bowl
Through these 80 recipes, Pepper teaches you how to make all her hits––influenced by Thailand, California, and everywhere in between. No one loves this book more than Chrissy: “I’m SO proud of Yai and all of the hard work she put into making this book come to life. It has all of my favorite recipes that mom used to make for us growing up, like chicken satay and papaya salad, as well as modern twists on classic Thai food like pad thai Brussels sprouts and nam prik moo sloppy joes!
