Thai beef salad

So I originally titled this most Thai MEAT salad. Then the hubs told me that his Momma calls it Thai BEEF Salad. See, Grandma still has a thick Korean accent and while I understand 99% of what comes out sometimes things get a little lost in translation! haha What I heard was meef. Like meat and beef combined into one word so I said "meat?" she said yes. But meat to her is beef. She doesn't eat a whole lot of chicken or pork. She much prefers beef so to her meat is beef, I guess!? You can most definitely make this with chicken, pork or the way we usually do with beef. I've had it with all of the above and I do think it is best with beef!

Anyway...the first time Grandma Harris made this for me I fell in love instantly! It is spicy, sour, salty and tastes so refreshing! It is perfect for an appetizer, light lunch, or a side dish with any other Asian dishes. Especially bulgogi!

Ingredients:
1/2 - 1 lb top round steak (pork or even chicken) thinly sliced like bulgogi
cilantro (diced about half a bunch)
3 green onions (finely diced)
rice powder (blended) I dont believe you can buy this I think you have to make it. I'll tell you how though!
lemon or lime juice (I prefer lime)
soy sauce
thai hot pepper or cayenne pepper {you can find ground thai hot pepper at any Asian market then grind them up in either a clean coffee grinder or spice grinder (Grandma gave me some she had ground up already) This ground pepper will last in your fridge indefinitely according to Grandma!}
salt and pepper to taste
lettuce cups (we used Romain, because we had in on hand. Use whatever is handy!)
sticky rice

Start in advance by making rice powder. You can do this by taking some rice and putting it in a pan and letting it get brown. No oil or anything, just the rice. Once it starts turning color be sure to pay close attention because it goes from brown to black fast! Let it get light golden brown. Then pop it into a food processor, spice, or even clean coffee grinder. Grind it into a fine-ish powder. Sort of like corn meal. Not as fine as flour. If you make this the day or even week before it will "soften" in the refrigerator. If not it will just be a little bit crunchy, still delicious but a tad crunchy. This "powder" can be stored in the refrigerator indefinitely or until you use it all up. Please don't leave this out it really adds ALOT to the flavor of this meat salad.

Grill or pan fry the strips of steak (pork or chicken, you can use any of them I just had beef on hand). I used an indoor grill pan for mine and it worked really well! Don't over cook it though you want the meat to be very tender and juicy to help create the "sauce". It can over cook fast since it is so thinly sliced so don't step away or it WILL burn!

Take the meat off and put it in a bowl. You just want it a little charred.

Add in the cilantro, green onion, lime juice (probably one whole lime maybe two depending on how much juice you get), and soy sauce (just for a bit of color and a hint of saltiness). Mix thoroughly.

Then add about a tablespoon of rice powder.

In the end I added about double this, but we like it HOT!

Finally thai pepper or cayenne, salt and pepper to taste. I actually prefer more soy sauce then to add salt. It just gives it more flavor and creates more juicy yummy sauce.

Mix it all up and serve with lettuce cups and sticky rice like a lettuce wrap!

Most of the ingredients are "to taste". If you like more cilantro add more, if you like more or less onions then go for it! I like it lime-y, salty, and spicy! To me it tastes just like summer! You can serve hot or cold although I prefer it cold the next day when all the flavors have had a chance to mingle. :)

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Love and Hugs,