The Art of Steak Salad: A Thai Twist with Picanha

As I begin to prepare this steak salad, I'm reminded of the importance of using high-quality ingredients and techniques that will elevate the dish to new heights. First, I'll thinly slice the picanha steak, which is a popular cut from Brazil known for its rich flavor and tender texture. This thin slice will allow me to toss it with the salad right away, ensuring that every bite is cooked to perfection.

For this salad, I've decided to use a more done side of doneness, which is common in Thai cuisine. The reason for this is that when meat is cooked to a medium-rare or rare, it can be too squishy and overpowering in a salad. By using a slightly more cooked picanha, the flavors will meld together beautifully, creating a harmonious balance of textures and tastes. I'll also make sure to cook it multiple times by flipping the steak several times, ensuring that it's nice and caramelized on the outside.

As I prepare the salad, I'm excited to see how all the ingredients come together. First, I'll add a generous helping of fresh herbs like lemongrass, shallots, mint, cilantro, and coriander. These aromatics will add depth and complexity to the dish, complementing the rich flavor of the picanha perfectly. To balance out the bold flavors, I'll also add some toasted rice powder, which is a classic ingredient in Thai cuisine.

The next step is to create the dressing, which will be the star of the show. For this, I'll use fish sauce as the base, which provides an umami flavor that's essential for any good salad. To thin it out slightly, I'll add some water, but not too much – we want to maintain that rich, savory taste. Next, I'll squeeze in a generous amount of lime juice, fresh from the fridge, to provide a tangy and refreshing contrast to the richness of the picanha.

To add an extra layer of spice, I'll sprinkle some roasted chili flakes on top, which will kick up the heat without overpowering the other flavors. And finally, to tie everything together, I'll drizzle in a bit of toasted rice powder, which will absorb any pooling liquid and create a silky smooth texture that complements the crunchy freshness of the herbs.

Now, it's time to taste! As I lift my first bite to my lips, I'm taken back to the Northeast region of Thailand, where this dish originated. The combination of flavors is absolutely sublime – the rich, savory picanha, the tangy lime juice, and the subtle spiciness from the chilies all come together in perfect harmony.

As I take another bite, I realize that this steak salad has captured the essence of northeastern Thai cuisine – a delicate balance of flavors and textures that will leave you wanting more. The toasted rice powder adds an aromatic depth to the dish, while the fresh herbs provide a burst of freshness and energy.

But what truly sets this salad apart is its ability to balance bold flavors with subtle nuances. The picanha steak may seem like a unusual ingredient in a Thai salad, but when cooked just right, it becomes a perfect complement to the other ingredients. And as I savor each bite, I'm reminded of the importance of experimenting with new ingredients and techniques – for it's through these adventures that we discover new flavors and textures that elevate our cooking to new heights.

As you try this recipe, be sure to serve it with a side of sticky rice or naan bread, which will soak up all the juices and add an extra layer of texture to each bite. And if you're feeling adventurous, be sure to check out my video on making sticky rice in seven different ways – a game-changer for any sticky rice enthusiast!

And so, dear readers, I hope this recipe inspires you to try something new and exciting in your cooking repertoire. With its bold flavors, harmonious balance of textures, and aromatic depth, this steak salad is sure to become a favorite in no time. So go ahead, take the leap – it's time to experience the bold flavors of northeastern Thai cuisine in all their glory!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enSawaddee ka welcome to hot thai kitchen so today i'm going to make a classic thai  northeastern dish that is what i call the real steak salad what i mean is normally  when you say steak salad what people mean is a salad with a steak on top of it right  but this dish is a salad made almost entirely of steak the steak is going to get sliced and  tossed with a spicy dressing and tons of fresh herbs it will redefine the way you  think about a steak salad forever now this dish is called neua yang nam tokneua yang means grilled beef and namtok means waterfall and i will explain to you why it's  called that in a minute let's get started let's start with the marinade which i'm keeping quite  simple because the salad has lots of things going on starting with oyster sauce some soy sauce sugar  some water and just some vegetable oil to keep the steak moist on the grill  some black pepper of course because when we got steak we got a half black pepper  give that a stir and that's it how simple is that and now the star of the show the steaks now in  thailand tri-tip is a pretty common cut for this but it's very hard for me to find here you can  use any grill friendly cut that you have access to but i am using today a really interesting cut  called picanha steak also known as the top sirloin cap the cap referring to this fat cap on top which  is great for the salad because it's quite lean otherwise there's no other fats going on and in  thailand we like a little bit of fat on our steak as well this is way more than what you need but it  never hurts to have extra marinated steak sticking around right so i'm just gonna make a little extra  all this dressing goes on top get them nicely coated and this needs at least two hours but  if you've got overnight just do overnight much easier if you do it the day before  come back and give the steaks a turn once or twice when you have time just to make sure it's evenly  distributed before you move on i want to take a moment to share with you a very useful tool that  will expand your horizons when it comes to cooking with beef there's so many cuts of beef on the  market right which is great there's something for everyone but most of us myself included probably  buy the same handful of cuts again and again and even though we see all the other options we don't  buy them because we don't really know what to do with them well canada beef our sponsor today has  come up with a brilliant solution the canadian beef information gateway is an online resource  that will demystify over 70 different cuts of beef say you're at a store looking at a package called  bottom sirloin flap steak no idea what that is so you pick up your phone and you open the gateway  and then you find your cut here's everything you need to know recommended cooking methods  with actual instructions including timing and temperature and also useful cooking tips steaks  cook more evenly when flipped at least twice during grilling good to know then my favorite part  there are recipes yes recipes that are perfect for this cut which you can cook directly from or  use as a guideline for creating something unique and every recipe comes with video instructions  so the next time you see a cut of beef on special go ahead and buy it and let the gateway help you  with all the details you can scan this qr code right here or click the link in the description  below and get ready to have fun in the kitchen to grill the steak preheat the grill to medium  high and because this steak is thick i'm covering the grill for an even doneness you want to flip  the steak at least twice but make sure you got those nice grill marks before you flip and fun  fact the reason this dish is called waterfall steak salad is because when meat is grilled  the water i.e the meat juices falls through the grill grates cool right you can grill the steak to  your preferred dentist but for this salad i like to pull it off the grill at 135 degrees fahrenheit  and let it rest until it reaches 145 not too rare and it'll hold up better in the salad  look at these now i was only just gonna grill one piece for the salad but it looks so good i was  like forget it i'm gonna grill everything i want it all now you want to let this rest and while  it's resting we have a very important task to do and that is to make the most important ingredient  in this dish and that is kaukua or toasted rice powder okay if without this it is not a namto  okay you can omit anything not this one except the steak i'm gonna start out with just some  uncooked jasmine rice you can do sticky rice if you want but jasmine rice works just fine  and i'm gonna just toast it in a dry skillet high heat and as an option i'm also going to throw in  a magrude lime leaf and that'll just toast along with the rice and become crispy and then when i  grind it into a powder it just adds a beautiful citrusy aroma you don't have it to add it you  can add lemongrass instead you can add galangal instead some people add everything but since we're  doing such a small amount one leaf is totally fine all right it's starting to look nice and brown you  don't want golden brown here you want like a deep brown color so you get that toasty flavor  push it a little bit further i'm happy with that turn that off and see how the lime leaf is now  crispy so we can grind it right up immediately into my mortar and pestle if you're going to  use a coffee grinder to grind it up you want to let this the rice cool on a plate first so as to  not melt any plastic parts of your coffee grinder okay grind this up into a powderonce you get down to just the rib you can get rid of thatokay that's it you want it sort of powderized for the most part  but little grittiness is totally fine and actually it's kind of nice texture  all right one thing left to do put everything together so i'm going to thinly slice the steak  for this because we're going to toss it with the salad right so let's see oh nice oh my god this  is perfect you don't want anything too rare for this and in thailand it's usually like on the more  done side and in a salad i just think it tastes better when it's not you know too squishy nice so  really thin bite-sized pieces like this let me just give this picanha a tasteso good yeah see how even that cooking is that comes from flipping the steak  multiple times so at least twice you want to flip that steaknice so all of this into the bowl okay see all this all this juice is really delicious  flavor that you want to put into the salad okay i'm not gonna add all of this because  this is juice of three steaks yeah that's about right now the seasoning i'm going to add some  fish sauce some water just to thin it out a little bit because the fish sauce is pretty intense  lime juice lots of lime juice fresh always and a little touch of sugar just to cut  all the acidity a little bit roasted chili flakes yes you can use any old chili flakes  chili powder that you have but this is a spicy salad so you definitely want to have that in  there and of course the star of the show our toast rice powder i'm gonna give that a mixoh the smell oh my god this this brings me right back to thailand my mom is from the  northeast where this dish is from so whenever i make northeastern food i think of her fresh herbs  some thinly sliced lemongrass some shallots mint and cilantro this is a lot of herbs but you know  we really need a lot of lightening up for the steak so all of this is going to go in sawtooth  coriander is a classic so if you have it add it too oh my god look at this you have no idea how  much self-control it is taking me to like not just devour all of this right now but we're almost done  look at this and the toasted rice powder over time is going to absorb any sort of pooling liquid  so don't be afraid if it's looking a little bit like too much liquid you absolutely have to have  namto with county or sticky rice yes and i have a video that shows you seven different ways that you  can make sticky rice so whatever your situation is you can make sticky rice somehow this is  pretty intense like the steak style is pretty intense so you definitely want to serve it with  the rice to sort of help mellow it out a bit let's eat i don't even know where to begin i love  mint so i'm gonna make sure it's in my bite a little bit of sticky rice  that's a winner i cannot describe to you how in the world of a steak salad this is going to be the  steak salad to blow everybody out of the water the steak is cooked to perfection and the the dressing  is umami from the fish sauce and tart lime juice and spiciness from the chilies and the toasted  rice powder is the aroma that brings everything together and makes it so totally unique i mean  this is the flavor of northeastern thailand if you know laugh and you love lab this is basically lab  with sliced steak okay it's almost exactly the same thing so i really hope you give this a try  especially if you're a steak fan the recipe as always is on my website hathaikitchen.com  a special thanks to our patreon members who help support the show and if you want to know what  that's all about you want to join our community i'll link to more in the description below thank  you as always for watching and i'll see you next time for your next delicious thai meal\n"