pleah saiko

[Guest guest]

This recipe is adapted from Corinne Trang's Essentials of Asian Cooking. My

understanding is that it's traditional, not original, but if this violates

copyright, please someone yank it or let me know.

It's good, but not as good as the local Cambodian place. I use Vietnamese fish

sauce, which is not as strong as tuk prahoc, and this may be the problem. But

I'm talking degrees of absolutely delicious, so go for it. If you don't have

fish sauce, it's good without it, too, but tastes, obviously, completely

different. You can try anything that gives a smoky flavor - dark miso, tamari

or mushroom sauce, for instance.

Pleah Saiko

Slice paper thin against the grain (you can ask the butcher to do this, or do it

while the meat is frozen). :

1 lb. fine-grained beef muscle (filet mignon, top round, heart)

Make a dressing of:

juice of 3 limes

1/4 c. fish sauce or tuk prahoc

sugar (recipe says 4 tbsp, but I sometimes omit, sometimes use a savory honey or

sorghum syrup)

1 stalk lemongrass prepped as thin rounds

1 shallot, sliced thin

1 clove garlic, sliced thin

Reserve half of this dressing and toss the beef with the other half. Let stand,

room temp, 10-15 minutes. Drain (do not rinse), gently pressing out excess.

Toss the drained beef with the reserved dressing and:

1 c. mung bean sprouts

handful fresh mint leaves

handful fresh Thai basil (other types are OK but different if you can't find

Thai)

2 tbsp. crushed crispy peanuts

Plate it and garnish with additional leaves and peanuts.