Yam Neua Yang Nam Tok (Waterfall Grilled Beef Salad)

Leafy bland western salad VS pungent, fresh, filling Thai salad= no competition.

This dish shows why I love Thai salads so much. They’re incredibly healthy (yes lean beef is healthy) they punch weigh above their weight in flavours- mouth wateringly sour and tangy from the lime, aromatic and cleansing from the herbs, crunchy and crisp from the veggies, vibrant and warming from the chillies and feeling full afterwards.

There’s various debates about why this is called Nam Tok (waterfall) some say it’s because the meat is cooked rare and the juices drip out during the grilling, others because the beef is so juicy. If you’ve been following my blog recently, you’ll see this dish shares a lot of ingredients with the larb moo recipe that I posted a few weeks back.


Anyway, enough talk, for two people use:

• 2 small, very lean steaks


• ½ red onion, thinly sliced


• a big handful of coriander leaves


• 1 large red chilli, sliced


• 1 lemongrass stalk, trimmed, outer layer peeled off and sliced fine


• juice of 1 big lime


• a big splash of nam pla (fish sauce)


• a tablespoon of khao khua (toasted rice powder- see below)


• a few slices of cucumber (for the side of the plate)


• a small splash of dark soy sauce


• a small splash of light soy sauce


• a bigger splash of nam pla (fish sauce)

You want to get your steaks marinating first off. Pop them in a bowl, adding the two soy sauce and a good splash of fish sauce. Leave this for a while, while you prepare all the other ingredients and make the toasted rice powder.

For the khao khua (toasted rice powder); put a small handful of plain white rice into a dry wok and turn on the heat. Keep gently moving the rice round and after a few minutes, it will start to toast and have a good nutty smell. Once it’s reached a light brown colour, quickly pour the rice into a mortar before it starts to burn. Grind up the rice into a fine powder and keep in a sealed tub for when you need it.

So after the meat has marinated, lets say an hour or two. Heat a non stick frying pan up (no oil) or turn on the grill (whichever method you prefer). You want to cook the steak for only a minute or two either side so it ends up rare- medium rare. After the steak is cook, slice it into fine strips and put it, along with any juice into a bowl. Throw in the rest of the ingredients (onions, chillies, coriander, lemongrass, lime juice, fish sauce and the rice powder) mix very quickly together and serve on a plate with the cucumber slices on the side.

Khao Mok Neua (Beef Biryani)

Biryani may not immediately come to mind when you think of Thai food but Khao Mok is an incredibly popular Southern Thai dish. It borrows a lot of flavours and it’s cooking style from Malaysia and Indian food and is popular in the south where the population is majority Muslim unlike central and northern areas of Thailand that have largely Buddhist populations. It does have a lot of similarities with Indian biryani’s but also has some classic Thai ingredients that makes it stand out as being quite different. Beef isn’t particularly common in Thailand and is considered by some to be of poorer quality compared to other meats but as this is a slower cooked dish and has been pre marinated, it becomes tender. Chicken is probably used more often for Khao Mok (Khao Mok Gai). 

For 3 big/ 4 small portions, use:

• 300g of beef (I used shin but feel free to use whatever cut you like), trimmed and cut into chunky cubes


• a  handful of coriander, finely chopped


• 4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped


• a thumb sized piece of ginger, finely chopped


• a big piece of fresh tumeric, finely chopped (morrisons sell it) or 1 teaspoon dried


• a big splash of fish sauce


• a big of salt

Mix all these ingredients up in a bowl. Leave them for a minimum of 1 hr, up to overnight if you have the time.

While marinating, make the dipping sauce. Use a small food processor, pestle and mortar or your chopping skills and mix together:

• 3 or 4 red or green chillies


• a handful of fresh mint leaves


• a handful of fresh coriander


• a small piece of galangal/ ginger or a mixture


• a big pinch of sugar


• a splash of vinegar (malt or white)

Set it aside for serving with the biryani at the end

Now to make the biryani. Use:

• 1.5 cups of white rice


• 2-2.5 cups of chicken stock


• about 20 Thai shallots or 1 red onion, finely sliced


• 1 chopped tomato


• a few cardamom pods


• a few bay leaves


• a few cinnamon sticks


• a big pinch of black pepper


• oil for frying

Heat oil in a pan, fry the onion/shallots until they have browned (about 5-10 mins). Add in the spices and fry for a minute or so. Add in the tomato, fry again for another minute. Now add the meat and all it’s paste. Fry well for about 5 minutes until it has some colour. Add in the dry rice next and fry this in the oils for a couple of minutes before adding 2 cups of stock (keep the other half cup on hand if it dries out too much). Give everything a good stir and pop on a lid. Let the whole thing cook on low for about half an hour, keeping an eye on the rice to make sure it hasn’t dried out too much. Add a bit more stock if it needs it.

Finally, turn off the heat and let the biryani rest and steam for it a bit. When you spoon it out don’t forget to get a few of the crispy bits from the bottom of the pan. Serve it with the minty dip, some cucumber slices and  a sprinkle of coriander over the whole thing.

Gaeng Pha Neua (Jungle curry with Beef)

I guess for most of us when we imagine a Thai curry we think of a rich coconut based red or green sauce. This is one of several Thai curries that doesn’t use any coconut milk- without the mitigation of cooling coconut milk, it’s also the hottest. It’s a northern dish- and the name, jungle curry is a nod to the ingredients traditionally using meats, herbs and vegetables that could be found wild. I’ve used beef but this is a great curry to use all vegetables or other meats; in Thailand, frog is a popular choice.

For 2 people (or double up for 4) use

• a beef steak (frying steak is fine) cut into thin strips


• your choice of crunchy vegetables cut into small pieces- I’ve used green beans, mange tout, carrots and Thai pea aubergines


• a heaped tablespoon of Red curry paste, Mae Ploy brand is my choice but all supermarkets will sell red curry paste


• ½ pint/ 300ml chicken/vegetable stock


• a good splash of Thai fish sauce (nam pla)


• finely chopped birds eye chillies- I used 6- this is a hot curry, be brave!


• 4 kaffir lime leaves, rolled and finely shredded


• finely chop a peeled finger of krachai (optional) but very authentic if you can get it- Thai or Chinese supermarkets stock it, it’s also called lesser ginger or galingale (not to be confused with galangal)


• a handful of Thai basil (holy or sweet) substitute tarragon if you can’t get Thai basil.


• vegetable/sunflower oil for frying

Start off by heating some oil in a wok or frying pan. When it’s hot, add in the red curry paste and stir fry it for around 30 seconds before adding in your vegetables. Fry these in the paste for a couple of minutes before adding your meat and fry for a further two minutes. Now add in the liquids (stock and fish sauce) and the krachai (if you have it) can go in too. Let this cook down a bit- around 5 minutes on a medium heat, then turn the heat off and stir your Thai basil through. Serve with boiled rice and sprinkle the chillies and kaffir lime leaf over the top.