2013 Resolutions: Jamie O's 15 mins Asian Beef Salad

Cashew nuts, sunflower seeds and some sesame seeds at the bottom.

This Asian Beef Salad was part 2 of the same episode of Jamie Oliver's 15 minutes meal program. Read about the first inception of Fish Stew *click here*
Anyway Monkey has learned and accepted that she can't cook anything in under 15 minutes except instant noodles and artisan cuppa of cappuccino. So the workflow and methodology for his recipe were all re-arranged according to my convenience....

The recipe started of with soaking some rice noodles aka bihun in hot water. Then toast and roast the above nuts until it's golden brown...that should take only a few minutes. I like to use thick based pan for its heat retention capability....more so for its weight. Can wham ppl and cause head injury. Yes therefore kitchen is a very dangerous place.


Next prepare the dressing.....
1x Tbsp of fish sauce
1x Tbsp of sesame oil
1x Tbsp of good quality soy sauce
all into the japanese pickled ginger which JS bought from Rakuzen :P

it's his shopping style....he actually goes to restaurants to buy ingredients....like to the seafood restaurants to buy their fresh produce, restaurants to get their raw ingredients.
*smacks forehead*

I've never seen any meat delicatessen actually allows their customer into the cold room to choose MEAT. He gets to select which cow he wants that's hanging in there....precisely which cut.
*double smack forehead*

One of the recent funny experience was....we were purchasing some beef for dinner. JS wanted the exact thickness for his steak....didn't like any CUT was already showcasing beautifully inside the chilled display counter. He demanded for the whole slab to be brought and presented to him.

Soon half the cow was on top of the counter to the horror of other customer. JS then requested for the knife...How rare this is??? Customer holding a knife inside a supermarket. He actually took the knife and mark onto the cow how thick he wanted his steak to be.

oh well u can imagine wat happen next......Monkey pushed the shopping trolley away and pretended not to know him~~~~~~ such a good housemate I am~~~~~~~but when it comes to enjoying his cooking, I'll cling on to him and whine the magic word....voila!!!! food will be prepared instantly. I don't know wat I have done to deserve a man like JS :)))))))))


The recipe calls for several types of greens. Seen bathing inside my stainless steel bowl were spring onions, red but not spicy chilis, carrots, asparagus, cucumber and sweet peas. U gotta clean them nicely bcoz all of the above will be eaten RAW.


Drain them nicely under the cold blast of my aircond at the dry kitchen.



The dressing was almost done.........just zest one lime with a good zester like microplane. That's a very very and really sharp utensil. Just one small accident and u will lose some skin off ur lil fingers.


my bowl is so pretty....lurve these japanese bowls.
See the lime zest is so fine.


with the naked lime which has just lost its skin....use it!!!
squeeze the hell outta its pulps and get all its juicy goodness.


Next dress ur beef with chinese 5 spice powder.
coat it evenly and nicely. Make sure u have trim off all the fat from the meat.


Then let it sizzle on the heated pan with a lil bit of oil


2 heads of Baby Romaine Lettuce
or was it Cos Lettuce?


Too lazy to wash...so just peel off the first few layers and off they went into my bin


Chop off the base and off it went into my bin. Then chop all the way down diagonally for a few centimetres.


Lay them nicely at one corner of the plate
The idea is to cut them into smaller edible bite size.


Next peel ur cucumber...oh well it depends..if u like the skin u can have them...but me no likey..


Cut them into cubes like this...u'll just need 1/2 a cucumber. Monkey got really tiny organic ones so I used the whole lot.

My ceramic knife is like the best thing ever. Been using it for the past few years now and still as sharp as ever. It's a limited edition in conjunction of Breast Cancer Awareness. I know...I'm such a bimbo...even my knives have to be pink but then JS bought it for me!!!! He gave instructions that I cannot touch nor use his knives....prollie coz I dunno how to use them and damage most of his stuffs...so he bought me these bimbotic pinkish tools!!


Next using a peeler....peel some organic baby asparagus like this. Oh yeah in case u were wondering, it's ceramic..it's pink...it's Kyocera ceramics :P

I was curious and wondered how does RAW asparagus tasted like. Oh yumms it was sweet with a good bite!!! Surprise!!!


Don't forget ur beef...keep turning every minute...
Up down up down
it should sear nicely :))))))))))


At the same time, continue chopping and building ur salad.
Sweet Snap Peas...u'll need to remove both ends and pull off the fiber on both sides. I was also curious at how it tasted like....

Krop krop krop crunch crunch
Oh yummy!!! it's so sweet!!!!!

Cut them sideways like this.

WAHHHH clap clap clap
I am so proud of my cutting skills!!!!

We didn't have a carrot shredder at home so I ended up having to cut them this way....used up a lot of time here.......Jamie Oliver used a shredder and it was so so so so fast and easy.


By now the piece of beef should be nicely done. U'll need to let it rest for a while for the meat to relax and soak up its jus.

My next fav tool is this ceramic Mandoline. It's really sharp and fast. Slice up some red radish.


Just throw everything anyway u like on the plate....for visual outlook, merchandise them according to texture and colors.

The recipe oso calls for alfalfa sprouts. Me no likey this.....

Since we lurve loads of heat. Chili Padi is a must!!!!
The big red chili is just for visual and aesthetic outlook. It doesn't do its job. U'll still need the small tiny powerful chili.

The Rice Noodle should be soft by now, put it at the edge of the plate. Then slice up the beef.....
and throw everything onto the platter....as effortlessly as Jamie O

Wham wham baam baam...and don't forget the coriander at the end.
I felt like I'm throwing things around
very therapeutic dish hahahahaha. Moreover I was preparing this half tipsy after finishing Minnie Winnie's 5 litres of Sangria a few hours ago.

ta-DA!!!!!
and it's done!!!!
Monkey took 40 minutes from cleaning the vegetables, to searing the beef, chopping, slicing, peeling and assembling the salad

To serve, pour the dressing onto the rice noodle, bcoz that's the least flavourful item on the plate.

squeeze some lime all over your salad...
MIX and "lou-hei"!!!!

Yup it was really tasty....I was surprise bcoz it looked like rabbit food to me :P
For the recipe *click here*
However I would recommend watching the video instead bcoz the ingredients are pretty basic, u just put watever u like :)))
*Click here* to watch the video, it's the 2nd part after the fish stew.

Happy Cooking!!!!!