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–+ servings
Vietnamese steak salad on a plate

Vietnamese Steak Salad (Xà Lách Thịt Bò)

An easy and hearty steak salad for when you need something quick and healthy. The star of the show are the pickled onions which help balance the rich flavors.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Salad
Cuisine Vietnamese
Servings 2 people

Equipment

Skillet

Ingredients
  

Steak Ingredients

  • .75 to 1 pound steak of choice (I used NY strip steak)
  • 3 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 1 teaspoon fish sauce
  • 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
  • 1 pinch red pepper flakes
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
  • 1 tablespoon neutral oil (e.g. avocado or canola)

Pickled onions (hanh dam) ingredients

  • 1/4 cup white vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/2 small onion quartered and very thinly sliced

Salad ingredients (use any combination of vegetables and toppers)

  • 1 head lettuce (red, green, or romaine works great)
  • 1 cucumber
  • 1 carrot
  • 1 tomato

Instructions
 

  • Gather all the ingredients

Prepare the steak marinde

  • Place steak in dish for marinade.
  • In a small bowl combine soy sauce, sesame oil, fish sauce, rice vinegar, sugar and ground pepper. Stir ingredients to desolve the sugar.
    Steak marinade in a bowl
  • Pour marinde over steak. Set aside as you prepare the other ingredients.
    Marinated Steak

Prepare the pickled onions

  • In a small bowl, combine white vinegar and sugar. Stir ingredients to desolve the sugar. Add the thinly sliced onions and mix to ensure onions are covered by vinegar mixture. Set aside as you prepare the other ingrdients.
    Pickled onions in a bowl

Prepare the salad

  • Chop the lettuce and vegetables of choice for salad. Combine in a large bowl and set aside.
    Lettuce, carrot, and tomato for salad

Cook the steak

  • Heat up a skillet on medium heat with a tablespoon of oil. Remove steak from the marinade and place into skillet. For medium steaks, cook on one side for 4-5 minutes before flipping. Cook second side for another 3-5 minutes. You can use the finger trick to test for doneness or use a meat thermometer (medium is 145°F). Remove the steak and set aside to allow meat to rest.
    Cooking steak in pan

Prepare the dressing

  • In the same skillet, pour in the steak marinade with 1/4 cup water and red pepper flakes. Allow the dressing to come to a boil and reduce to about half. Turn off the heat, add cilantro, and stir.
  • Slice the steak. Steal a bite. Take the sliced steak and put back into the skillet (heat is off) so that it's covered in the delicious dressing.
    Sliced steak in pan
  • Place steak and dressing over bowl of salad. Add those pickled onions. Toss together and enjoy!
    tossed steak salad

Notes

  1. Follow the order of steps and everything can be prepped and finished in about 30 minutes. 
  2. Since the marinade was used for the raw meat, be sure the dressing comes to a boil in the pan to make it safe for consumption. The water added keeps the marinade from thickening too quickly before it has a chance to boil. 
  3. When the warm steak is tossed with the vegetables, the salad greens tend to wilt. I enjoy the contrast, but if that's not your jam let the steak and dressing cool completely before mixing the salad. 
  4. This is a great recipe for cleaning out the fridge. Use any vegetables or salad toppers you like (e.g. radishes, spinach, peppers, boiled eggs)
Keyword Quick, steak
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