Seared Beef Salad

By Otro Restaurant

IN an airy Georgian townhouse in the heart of Edinburgh’s west end, Otro Restaurant is a family-run brasserie offering its take on Scottish & modern European favourites. Enjoy local produce and a bespoke wine list carefully selected and creatively prepared while you unwind in the beautiful surroundings, just a stone’s throw from all of the capital’s major sights.

This dish is perfect as something lighter after over-indulging during the festive period. Packed full of nutrients without compromising on flavour, this salad combines loads of vegetables with seared Scottish sirloin to give you a guilt-free crowd-pleasing treat.

For information about Otro Restaurant visit www. otrorestaurant.co.uk

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

For the dressing:

70g palm or muscovado sugar 100ml light soy sauce

7g fresh ginger

10g bonito flakes

10ml sesame oil

80ml lime juice

60ml water

20ml fish sauce

2 red chillies, de-seeded and thinly sliced

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

For the salad

2 Scottish sirloin steaks (about 300g each) 1 cucumber, thinly sliced 200g sugar snap peas 4 baby gem salad leaves, separated

1 carrot, shaved or thinly sliced 2 small red onions, sliced

3 few radishes, sliced

5 button mushrooms, sliced a handful of peanuts, toasted 20g fresh Thai basil leaves

20g fresh mint leaves

20g fresh coriander leaves

METHOD 1

Start with the dressing. Put all the dressing ingredients into a small saucepan and warm gently to 60˚-70˚C. Keep at that temperature for five minutes without boiling.

2 Strain the liquid through a fine-mesh sieve and adjust seasoning if necessary with more fish sauce, lime juice or sugar. You are looking for a nice balance of sweet, salty and sour flavours.

3 Retain half of the dressing for the salad for the beef.

4 Place the beef in the remaining marinade for 30 minutes to one hour.

5 Drain the beef from the marinade. Place a frying pan over a high heat and sear the beef on all sides in a glug of vegetable oil until it has a nicely caramelised crust but is still rare inside

(about two minutes on each side)

6 Rest the beef for five minutes before slicing thinly just before serving.

7 Toss all the salad ingredients (except the herbs) with the beef. Drizzle with generous amounts of the dressing.

8 Serve in a large bowl, garnish with the fresh herbs.

In association with Taste Communications.