Hot and Spicy Steak Salad

Image of hot and spicy steak salad

Not so much a recipe, this, more a series of suggestions. At its simplest a steak salad is just that, strips of juicy rare steak, hot from the pan, piled on top of a green salad. How you marinade the steak (if you do) and what you put in the salad is up to you. It makes a fast and healthy supper, if you politely ignore the fries Him Outdoors had on the side.

There are umpteen combinations. Lettuce, rocket, lambs’ lettuce, baby spinach, chicory or a mixture. Tomatoes, onion, avocado, spicy roasted peppers, asparagus, French beans; blue cheese, goats’ cheese or feta; herbs, croutons, hard boiled eggs. A straightforward vinaigrette dressing or one with added blue cheese, garlic, chilli, mustard, honey, ginger, lime. If you have time, a marinade for the steak: oil, a little vinegar, garlic, sliced chilli or hot sauce, soy sauce, herbs and spices, what you will. Not all of these all at once, obvs.

And the steak itself: fillet tail, sirloin, rump, feather steak, minute steak. I’d just suggest, as it’s the star of the show, that you buy the best you can afford. A little goes a long way in this recipe and you can easily stretch one steak to feed two people.

Hot and Spicy Steak Salad

Image of sliced rare steak

Katsup manis/katsup medja is a thick, sweet Indonesian soy sauce. If you don’t have it substitute dark soy with a teaspoon of honey

Ingredients:

Around 200g steak (see above)

Your choice of salad ingredients

Optionally: 1/2 lime, quartered, to squeeze over

For the steak marinade:

1 heaped tbsp harissa

2 tbsp katsup manis/katsup medja

1 fat clove of garlic, crushed

Juice of 1/2 lime

Optionally: 1 tspn chilli powder, if you want it hotter

For the salad dressing (you won’t need all of it):

Juice of 1/2 lemon

1/2 tspn honey

1 small clove of garlic, crushed

1 heaped tspn Dijon mustard

Pinch of cayenne pepper

Salt and pepper, to taste

50-75 ml extra virgin olive oil, or to taste

Method:

If the steak is very thick, place it between two pieces of grease-proof paper and bash it a few times with a rolling pin to flatten it slightly.

Mix the marinade ingredients in a non-reactive dish and add the steak, turning it to coat. Cover and leave to marinate for half an hour, longer if you have the time.

Whisk together the salad dressing, adding the oil last so it thickens. Check the seasoning, taste and adjust; I like my dressings sharp.

Heat a griddle pan until it’s smoking and quickly flash-fry the steak so it’s browned on the outside but still rare in the middle. Set aside to rest for a few minutes while you dress the salad.

Pile the salad onto plates, slice the steak into strips and heap it on top, adding a chunk of lime to squeeze over if you like. Eat immediately.

14 thoughts on “Hot and Spicy Steak Salad

  1. Loving the sound of this marinade; I have some kecap manis (is that the same thing?) buried away somewhere in the cupboard. Fillet steak please, rare. Watercress too, I think. Drool…

  2. What a perfectly cooked steak Mrs. P. I am particularly taken with your carving knife and fork. My late father used to use a fork almost identical. I have sought one out without success as I want to use it to dress my posts. The quest continues…

  3. Steak and greens are wonderful together. My favorite—no surprise—is the Italian way, tagliata, sliced steak served over arugula drizzled with olive oil and topped with shavings of parmesan. Yummy!

Leave a Reply