Vietnamese beef noodle salad
Thin-sliced beef seared hard and fast, tossed through vermicelli with mint, coriander and crushed peanuts. Sweet chilli and lime do the rest of the work.
Notable for: vitamin C, iron, B vitamins
Ingredients
- 730 gbeef rump steak, thinly sliced
- 250 grice vermicelli noodles
- 1fresh mint, leaves picked
- 1fresh coriander, leaves picked
- 50 groasted peanuts, crushed
- 60 mlsweet chilli sauce
- 2limes
- 20 mlfish sauce
- 15 gcrushed garlic
- 10 mlolive oil
Method
Cook the vermicelli according to the packet instructions, then drain and rinse it in cold water.
Whisk the sweet chilli sauce, lime juice, fish sauce and garlic into a dressing.
Sear the beef in the oil over high heat, in batches, about 90 seconds a side, until well browned but still pink in the middle.
Toss the vermicelli with most of the dressing, mint and coriander leaves.
Pile the beef on top, scatter the crushed peanuts over, and spoon on the rest of the dressing.
Sear the beef in batches over high heat
Thin-sliced beef needs real heat and space in the pan to brown properly. Crowding it drops the temperature fast, so do it in two or three batches rather than trying to fit it all in at once.
Storage
Best eaten the day it's made, as the herbs wilt quickly once dressed.
Keep the beef, noodles, herbs and dressing separate if prepping ahead, and combine just before eating.
Cost per serving is indicative, based on New Zealand supermarket prices as at September 2026. Batch prices your own week against your own store on the day. Nutrition figures, including calories, are estimates rather than label readings, so always check the packet if you have an allergy. "Notable for" reflects well-established qualities of the ingredients used, not a lab measurement of this exact dish.