Vietnamese Beef and Green Papaya Salad

Step 1

Make marinade. Slice beef to 1/2 inch thick bite size pieces, toss with marinate and let sit at least 30 minutes. Or refrigerate up to 8 hours. Grill or pan fry until just cooked.

Step 2

Peel and shred green papaya and place in a bowl of ice water for 15-20 minutes. Alternatively, you could prepare rice noodles following manufacturer’s directions.

Step 3

Make dressing. Combine lime juice, fish sauce, sugar, oil, chili, garlic.

Step 4

Drain Papaya and toss(or rice noodles) with dressing to coat. Place on a plate along with beef and a combination of the fresh herbs. Top with roasted peanuts and crispy shallots. Serve with chop sticks.

Step 5

Fried Shallots- can either be made from scratch, although most Asian markets offer them as a condiment already packaged, which I have found are extremely handy and tasty. They offer good flavor and texture.

Step 6

Lemongrass can be found in most grocery stores, in the herb or produce section. If you find you cook with lemon grass a lot, a nice option is purchasing it in bulk, already chopped in the freezer section of most Asian markets.