Khmer Beef Salad or Pleah Saiko

Pleah saiko is a beef salad. It’s mostly beef, with some bean sprouts and herbs tossed in. The beef is cooked in a lime-marinade mixture. The beef becomes very tender after it’d been marinated for a few hours, but if you are pressed for time, 30 minutes is enough. Also, try this with goat or deer meat and let the meat marinate for two to three hours.

Pleah Saiko

Khmer Beef Salad or Pleah Saiko

1 pound boneless top round steak, trimmed of all fat and thinly sliced against the grain

Juice from 6 limes

3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

3 large shallots, thinly sliced

2 lemongrass stalks, thinly sliced

Zest of 1 kaffir lime (see note)

A bunch of mint leaves

A bunch of basil leaves

6 oz. bean sprouts

1 red chili, finely chopped (optional)

¼ cup fish sauce

¼ cup water

5 tbsp. sugar  

½ tsp prahok paste (see note)  

¼ cup roasted peanuts, roughly ground

Making the dressing: in a small sauce pan over medium heat, mix fish sauce with prahok paste, water and sugar and bring the mixture to a boil. Let it completely cool down.

Marinating the beef: combine lemongrass, garlic, kaffir lime zest, shallots, lime juice and chili (if using) in a bowl and mix. Add the beef to the lime mixture and toss together well. Cover and leave to marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes or up to 3 hours.

Preparing the salad: pour away the excess marinade juice from the beef, gently pressing with your hands to remove as much liquid as possible. Return the beef to a clean bowl and add bean sprouts, mint and basil leaves and toss well. Add the dressing and toss again. Taste and adjust accordingly. Sprinkle with peanuts and serve.

  

Note: prahok is fermented fish paste. It is the soul of Khmer cuisine. Prahok is used as seasoning in a lot of our dishes. You can leave it out of this dish, just make sure you adjust the dressing accordingly. Kaffir lime zest can be substituted with kaffir lime leaves or normal lime zest. Also, as the beef is cooked in lime-marinade, make sure to trim all the fat out. And the dressing has to be completely cooled down so that the herbs and sprouts stay crunchy and fresh.