This beef and split water spinach salad is popular because it eats cool and crunchy while still carrying protein. The split stems curl, the beef stays tender from a fast sear, and herbs and roasted peanuts add a nutty note.
The hardest part is keeping the greens crisp, because water spinach that weeps turns the whole plate limp. The split stems are best soaked in cold water with lime juice and then chilled thoroughly. The dressing goes on only right before serving, as an early toss leaves the greens slack.
This batch weighs about 562g, at roughly 70 calories per 100g.
Method
Rinse 200g beef flank, pat it dry and slice it thinly against the grain.
Marinate the beef with 1 teaspoon minced shallot, 1 teaspoon vegetable seasoning powder, 1 teaspoon minced garlic, 1/2 teaspoon kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper, 1 tablespoon soy sauce and a little cooking oil for 30 minutes.
Strip the leaves from 300g water spinach stems, wash them and split them lengthwise. Soak them in cold water with lime juice for 5 minutes so the stems turn white and crisp, rinse, cut into 5cm lengths and chill in a covered container.
Heat a pan with cooking oil, fry 3 minced garlic cloves until fragrant, then add the beef and stir fry quickly over high heat. As soon as it is just cooked, turn off the heat and spread it on a plate to cool.
Mix the dressing: stir 2 tablespoons water, 2 tablespoons kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper and 1 teaspoon minced shallot until dissolved, then add 1.5 tablespoons rice vinegar and 1 tablespoon cooking oil.
Mix the dipping sauce: stir 1 tablespoon kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, 1 tablespoon fish sauce, 5 tablespoons water, 1 teaspoon minced chili, 1 teaspoon minced garlic and 1/2 tablespoon rice vinegar until fully dissolved.
Put the water spinach, beef, chopped Vietnamese balm and mint and 1 seeded red horn chili cut into threads in a large bowl, pour over the dressing, toss and leave for 10 minutes.
Arrange on a plate, scatter over crushed roasted peanuts, fried shallots, fried garlic and a few herb leaves, and serve with the dipping sauce.
Tips
Split stems soaked in cold water with lime and then chilled come out white, crisp and beautifully curled.
Beef sliced against the grain and seared fast over high heat stays tender rather than chewy.
Beef cooled completely before tossing keeps the greens crisp, as warm meat half cooks them.
kOBE Monk Fruit Blend dissolves slowly, so the dressing is mixed ahead, rested for 5 minutes, then stirred and tasted.
Pouring off the liquid at the bottom of the bowl before plating keeps the salad from turning soggy.
Need kOBE Monk Fruit Blend?
The recipe above is sweetened with kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, measured 1:1 like sugar. See the product page or send us a message.