Northern Thai (#Issan) Steak Salad: Recipe

Imagine...juicy cuts of fatty steak--perfectly cooked to medium rare--served with pleasurably spicy, lemongrassy, garlicky, lime-juicy, and umami-rich sauce-- made with freshly chopped shallots, cilantro and mint leaves. I have a feeling this sauce will change the way you view Thai cooking forever. This sauce is like a hot Thai cousin of chimichurri.

Directly translated as "waterfall grilled beef," Naam Tok Neua (น้ำตกเนื้อ) is a meat lover's dream salad. Regarding its Thai name (with the word "waterfall" included), there is no one answer to why the dish has this name. Some Thai people say the "waterfall" part has to do with the delicious meat juice that pours out of steak during the grilling process, while others say the sizzling sound of steak being grilled is similar to the sound of a waterfall. 

If you are thinking about making this dish, the most important thing to know is... that this dish is really more like a steak dish than a salad (dish that commonly includes more vegetables than meat). 

Investing in quality mortar and pestle goes a long way.

You can use them, of course, to make a number 

of Thai, Laotian, and Mexican dishes.

You'll be surprised what other things you can do.

A secret to truly amazing tonkatsu sauce? Add freshly 

ground sesame seeds to your regular tonkatsu sauce. 

This is just the perfect dish for you to cook for yourself or your friend(s) if you are currently on a diet plan that requires you to add more protein. I personally like to eat this dish with sticky (glutinous) rice (because.. I just LOVE rice ¯\(ツ)/¯ ), but you can always eat this with lettuce or some other type of vegetable (e.g., raw baby carrots, mixed green salad right out of container, or steamed vegetables?) too. 

If you are a fan of Thai laab (the minced meat #Issan salad), you will most likely love this dish. The flavor profile is very similar to that of Thai laab. When I started researching different Thai food under the category of Nam Tok (น้ำตก), I could not help but feel somewhat confused at first. Basically, depending on which region of Thailand, Nam Tok could be either a soup with fresh pig blood or a meat-heavy salad. So you better know where you are eating when you are ordering a random Nam Tok dish from a random street vendor--of course, unless you truly enjoy eating both things (pig blood & grilled meats) that you truly don't care which one you are gonna get. 

It is commonly said that most Nam Tok dishes found in the Northeastern region of Thailand (#Issan region, consisting of 20 provinces, is the biggest region in Thailand) are meat salads while most Nam Tok dishes found in Central region of Thailand (e.g., Bangkok) tend to be bloody soups. Traditionally, these Nam Tok meat salad dishes tend to include meats grilled with charcoal outside. You probably know this, but charcoal absolutely does wonders to almost every ingredient by adding rich smoky flavor to it. So I strongly recommend that you use charcoal to grill up your steak if you happen to have charcoal ready to go. 

The recipe that I am sharing here is a version I came up with after years of tweaking different recipes found in cookbooks and online. This recipe will be distinctively different from the traditional version by not including khao khua (ข้าวคั่ว), toasted sticky rice powder, in it. Toasted sticky rice powder is often times used to add some textural crunch and extra smokiness to the dish. 

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Northern Thai (#Issan) Steak Salad Recipe 

Nam Tok Neua (น้ำตกเนื้อ)

Serves 2-3 people

Essential kitchen appliances: mortar & pestle (extra large size: holds 3 cups at least) 

**I bought mine at Amazon**(and..No, I am not sponsored by them)

Ingredients:

For the Sauce 

- 2/3 tbsp of Thai Seasoning Sauce (I like the Golden Mountain Seasoning Sauce)

- 3 tbsp of Thai Fish Sauce

- About 3tbsp (or more depending on how acidic you like your sauce) of freshly squeezed lime juice

- 1 extra lime for later (for the decoration after)

- 2 tsp of brown sugar melted in 1/4 cup of hot water (or unsalted chicken stock!!)

- 4 large lemongrass stalks chopped finely 

- 2 garlic cloves roughly chopped (don't add more than 2 garlic at first..you can always add more if you want some more later!)

- 1/4 cup of leaves of Thai Basil (also known as Holy Basil) *It's fine to omit if you can't find them.

- 1 cup or more of roughly chopped cilantro 

- 2/3 cup or more of roughly chopped mint

- 1 chopped shallot

- 2 Thai green chilies roughly chopped (also known as bird eye chilies)

- 3 green onions roughly chopped 

For the Steak

- About 2 bigger (8oz) steak filet mignon (make sure you use high quality steak that are fatty & tender! REMEMBER..this dish is like a steak dish. not a salad. Steaks are stars here!)

- Freshly ground black peppe

- Salt 

- Canola oil (or some other mild tasting oil. Mild olive oil is fine too)

Some fresh ingredients are pictured here

NOT sponsored: I personally like to use these brands

0. Prep work: (1) take your steaks out of the fridge. Let it sit in a room for about 15 minutes (while you make the sauce) so they are not too cold. Salt & pepper your filet mignons. PLEASE lightly salt your steaks. The sauce will be salty, and it is meant to be that way. The last thing you want to do it over-salting your perfect/expensive dish. Do heavily pepper your filet mignons.

(2) Wash your mortar & pestle and have them ready to go!

(3) Heat your 1/4 cup of water (or unsalted chicken stock--this gives you better end result) & melt 2 teaspoons of brown sugar inside. Set it aside.

1. Start getting vegetables/ herbs assembled for the sauce. If  you are not familiar with working with lemongrass and how to prep them, see the link here. 

Peel the outer layering stalks then chop off the tips
and woodsy part at the bottom. Mince them finely.
Much finer than the picture here!
Click on the link to see more!

2. Start making the sauce by first adding the melted sugar mixture from above to your mortar & pestle. Now add in Thai seasoning sauce, fish sauce (yes, it will be stinky :0), freshly squeezed lime juice, finely chopped lemongrass stalks, chopped garlic+shallot+Thai green chilies. 

3. Mix them well by smooshing ingredients together so everything is melded into the sauce for about 2-3 minutes. 

4. Add 3/4 cup of cilantro into the mortar & pestle. Add 1/3 cup of mint as well as half of green onions chopped for the sauce. Continue to smoosh everything together again using mortar & pestle. I like to use cilantro stems especially for this process. I think the stems give better flavor than leaves when making a sauce like this one that's distinctively Thai (many authentic Thai recipes will ask you to use cilantro roots, and I like to use the stems as a substitute when I can't get the roots).

5. Taste the sauce. It is meant to be a little salty + funky! If you don't like what you taste, feel free to add more sugar, lime juice, peppers, or water. 

6. Now add the rest of the chopped cilantro (1/4 cup left), Thai basil, and mint (1/3 cup left) into your sauce. Now, your sauce is done!

7. Cook your steaks by first adding some oil into the pan. Make sure your pan is super dry! Wipe it clean if the pan has some water still (oil will explode & splatter everywhere if you don't do this!) Turn up the heat to medium-high. When you see the pan smoking, put your steaks in. 

8. Cook steaks to your liking! I like to first use medium-high heats to give a nice char on the outside first. Then, I decrease the heat to medium-low to make sure the steaks are moist & tender when I am done cooking them!

I like my steak medium rare. Feel free to cook them
however you like!

9. Let your steaks rest! Resting your steaks will make a difference. Cut the steaks into nice long, thick strips. Toss them in the sauce you created. You can also serve the sauce on the side after tossing the steaks with only half of the sauce. There is no right or wrong way in my book to eat your food!

*Like any fantastic recipe should be, the sauce for this recipe can be used for almost anything grilled. You can also use this sauce to make spicy raw salmon salad (salmon laab) for hot summer nights to pair with your ice cold beer!