Spicy steak with a pear, rocket and watercress salad

Prep time: 20 minutes, plus marinating time Cook time: 20 minutes

Serves 4

This recipe is inspired by the tasty Vietnamese classic Bò Lúc Lac, or ‘shaking beef ’. The beef and marinade are traditional, and here I have paired the watercress salad with some bitter and peppery rocket and delightfully sweet blush pears, and dressed it all with a tangy balsamic sauce.

INGREDIENTS

– 2 rib-eye steaks, each

about 300g

– ½ tsp vegetable oil – 100g watercress

leaves

– 90g rocket leaves

– 1 red onion, thinly

sliced lengthways

– 2 blush pears (as firm as possible), thinly sliced

For the marinade

– 2 tsp light soy sauce – 1 tsp fish sauce

– 4 tsp sesame oil – 1 tsp chilli paste – 2 tsp garlic paste – 4 tsp oyster sauce – 60ml sweet chilli

sauce

– 20ml lime juice

For the dressing

– 60ml olive oil

– 1 tsp red chilli paste – 1 tsp garlic paste

– 1 tsp caster sugar – 60ml balsamic

vinegar

– 20ml light soy sauce – 3 coriander stems, leaves and stems finely chopped

METHOD

Put the steaks into a bowl along with all the marinade ingredients plus 2 tsp ground black pepper and massage well, ensuring they are fully covered. Cover and leave in the fridge for a minimum of 1 hour or, for best results, 3 hours, taking them out to room temperature 30 minutes before cooking.

Wipe off as much of the marinade (reserve it) as possible and set aside.

Add the oil to a medium frying pan over a high heat. When hot, add the marinated steaks and toss for 1 minute until medium-rare. Take off the heat and leave to rest.

Put all the dressing ingredients into a small bowl, mix together well and set aside.

Once rested, slice the steaks into strips.

Gently toss the watercress and rocket leaves together, then place on a large serving plate. Add the onion and pears on top, then pour over the dressing, according to taste.

Add the reserved marinade to a pan over a medium heat for 1 minute to warm through. Place the steak on top of the salad and drizzle over the marinade to finish.