This rare beef recipe is tasty and easy, and best of all, its healthy! Green papayas and mangoes can be found in Asian supermarkets, but if you don’t have one locally, look out for underripe fruits instead.
Serves 4
Ingredients:
– 3 spring onions, trimmed, halved and julienned
– 1/2 tbsp olive oil
– 180g skirt steak
– 1 green or underripe papaya (about 350g), peeled and deseeded
– 1 small green or underripe mango (about 450g), peeled and stone removed
– 30g mint, leaves picked
– 30g coriander, leaves picked
– salt and freshly ground black pepper
Dressing
– 1 small garlic clove
– 1 red bird’s eye chilli
– 1 tbsp caster sugar
– juice of 2 limes
– 1 tbsp fish sauce
Garnish
– 2 tbsp mixed black and white sesame seeds
– 2 tbsp crispy fried shallots (optional)
– 20g roasted peanuts, roughly chopped
– 1 red chilli, finely sliced
Method:
1. Place the julienned spring onions into a bowl of ice-cold water and set aside. This crisps up the spring onions and makes them curl up beautifully.
2. Drizzle a little olive oil over the skirt steak and season. Fry in a searingly hot pan for about 1–2 minutes on each side – a little longer if the steak is thick (though it should be quite thin). Set aside to rest.
3. Make the dressing. Using a pestle and mortar, pound the garlic, chilli and sugar until you have a smooth paste.
4. Add the lime juice, fish sauce and 1 tablespoon water, mix together and set aside.
5. Finely grate the papaya and mango. I find the grating attachment on a mandolin the best way to do this, but if the fruit is a little soft, it is best to finely slice the fruit and julienne it by hand.
6. When ready to serve, toss the papaya, mango, spring onions and herbs with the dressing. Slice the beef against the grain as thinly as possible and serve alongside, garnished with the sesame seeds, crispy fried shallots, peanuts and chilli
Tips:
– Skirt steak is best served rare, hence the very short cooking time. If you prefer your meat more well done, opt for a cut such as fillet.
Kathryn is an Irish food writer and stylist living in London. She has spent the best part of ten years working in the food industry, and her cookbooks reflect her experience. Kathryn’s ambition is to create enticing, unusual and exciting recipes that are high in nutrition and low in calories. In Skinny Salads there is 80 flavour-packed recipes and each recipe has less then 300 calories. Ranging from gloriously green to gluten and dairy-free, vegetarian and vegan recipes there is something for everyone.
Taken from Skinny Salads by Kathryn Burton published by Kyle Books, photography by Laura Edwards
