Bun Bo (Grilled Lemongrass Beef Noodle Salad)

About This Recipe

"From a Vietnamese recipe website, this is delicious, very healthy and perfect for those warm summer days.

Ingredients
o 225 g rice vermicelli
o 450 g beef, flank steaks or round beef, cut into strips
o 1 onions, peeled and finely chopped
o 3 garlic cloves, peeled
o 2 stalks lemongrass, finely chopped
o 1 teaspoon salt
o 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
o 1/2 teaspoon curry powder (optional)
o 1 tablespoon fish sauce
o 200 g lettuce, shredded
o 1 cucumbers, peeled and shredded
o 225 g bean sprouts
o 40 g fresh mint leaves
o 40 g coriander, coarsely chopped ( cilantro)
o 150 g carrots, shredded
o 100 g crushed roasted peanuts

Directions

1. To make the marinade paste, pound the onion, garlic and lemongrass with a mortar and pestle or with a food processor until coarse. Add in the salt, black pepper, curry powder if desired, and fish sauce. Stir mixture over the beef and marinate for 1 hour or overnight if possible.
2. Bring a saucepan of water to the boil, add the vermicelli noodles and cook for 3-5 minutes or until tender. Drain, refresh under cold water, drain again and set aside.
3. Thread the meat strips onto the bamboo skewers. Grill till done to taste.
4. To serve, place a portion of noodles in a large soup bowl. Then place the beef, lettuce, cucumber, bean sprouts, mint leaves, fresh coriander, carrot and 1 teaspoon crushed peanuts on top of the noodles. Dress the ingredients with 2 tablespoons nuoc cham, or more to taste - I use around 4 tablespoons for each serving. Toss the ingredients together and serve. Repeat the process for each serving.