I came across some really good carrots at Queen Vic Market. As I walked past a stall, I smelt them, a rich sweet scent of goodness trailing thoughts of carrot soup. Carrots are superb when fresh, sliced and dipped into tzatziki, lightly steamed to retain their golden colour or baked with honey. The crunchy texture and sweet taste of carrots is best when newest. In this salad, carrots highlight not just texture, but appearance.
For 2
Marinade
For every 500g meat
pinch salt
1 tbsp sherry, rice wine vinegar, or soy
1 egg white
1 tbsp cornflour
½ tbsp oil
Remove fat from meat, slice into strips and place in a bowl. Sprinkle in the salt and thoroughly mix by hand. Feel to make sure that each piece is coated.
Add the sherry, rice wine vinegar, or soy depending on what your recipe calls for, if it doesn’t state any, just use sherry. Mix thoroughly. Gently add the egg white. Mix, coating each piece, making sure not to froth the egg. Sprinkle in cornflour, mixing by hand. Add oil and stir to coat.
Cover and leave for 30 minutes at room temperature.
Vietnamese Beef Salad
Ingredients
250 g beef
2 small onions, thinly sliced.
small bowl shredded daikon
small bowl shredded celeriac
2 – 4 carrots, thinly sliced
handful of fresh basil
handful of fresh coriander
4 tbsp toasted and unsalted peanuts, crushed
Dressing:
4 tbsp rice vinegar
4 tbsp water
2 tbsp sugar
Pour dressing over daikon, onion, celeriac and carrots. Leave to infuse for about an hour, and then divide the vegetables onto plates.
Liquid
300 ml strong beef stock
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
Mix everything for the boiling liquid, bring to boil and let simmer for a few minutes. Gently add the meat and let it simmer for just a few seconds – it should be warm, but not completely cooked through. Place the meat on top of the vegetables.
Finish with a liberal scattering of basil, coriander and crushed peanuts.