Vietnamese Steak Salad

Cooking Instructions

1. To prepare steak: Combine lime juice, fish sauce, soy sauce and chile oil in a large sealable plastic bag. Add steak and seal the bag, turning to coat the meat with the marinade. Marinate in the refrigerator, turning the bag occasionally, for 4 hours.

2. Meanwhile, prepare vinaigrette: Combine broth, lemongrass and 2 tablespoons shallot in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat until reduced to 1/4 cup, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and let stand for 10 minutes. Strain into a small bowl, discarding solids. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons shallot, lime juice, fish sauce, soy sauce, sugar and chile oil; whisk to combine. Just before serving, stir in cilantro and mint.

3. Preheat grill to high.

4. Remove the steak from the marinade (discard marinade). Grill the steak, 4 to 5 minutes per side for medium-rare. Transfer to a clean cutting board and let rest for 5 minutes. Slice thinly on the diagonal, across the grain.

5. To prepare salad: Toss watercress (or spinach), cucumber, carrot, cilantro and mint with 1/2 cup of the vinaigrette in a large shallow bowl. Arrange the steak over the greens. Spoon the remaining vinaigrette over the top and serve.

Note: Fish sauce is a pungent Southeast Asian condiment made from salted, fermented fish. Find it in the Asian section of large supermarkets and in Asian specialty markets. We use Thai Kitchen fish sauce, lower in sodium than other brands (1,190 mg per tablespoon), in our nutritional analyses.