This works best if you buy the tenderest cut of meat you can afford (eye fillet being the best). Aside from being delicious, it also means the meat only needs a very short time to cook and won\’t get tough from simmering.
I store my lemongrass stalks and kaffir lime leaves in the freezer. It is hard to chop the lemongrass when frozen so stick it in the mic for 10 seconds first (if not defrosted ahead of time).
You could add other ingredients like bean sprouts or choi sam.
I generally use a third of a tin of coconut milk (about 130ml) so within the next day or two, I cook another recipe that uses coconut milk. Look for BPA-free tins that only have \”coconut milk\” in them (or water added – but no guar guar or malto dextrose etc.)
- 2 or 3 short stalks of lemongrass
- 4 kaffir lime leaves
- 2 or 3 garlic cloves
- half cm fresh ginger
- a third of a tin of coconut milk
- optional: handful of bean sprouts, rinsed
- 2 or 3 steaks of eye fillet (500g)
- 3 or 4 bunches of buk choi (they shrink a little, mainly the green leafy part
- 3 tsp good quality fish sauce
- 2 tsp honey
- 1 tsp salt (but add this at the end. The fish sauce is already salty so wait and see, depending on the brand and how salty people like things.)
- Use a stab mixer or food processor to pulse the lemongrass, kaffir leaves, garlic, ginger, fish sauce and honey together.
- Add the coconut milk and pulse further until fairly smooth.
- Chop the steak finely and marinate it in the coconut mixture, covered in the fridge – if you have time.
- Prepare the buk choi. That means chopping the base and rinsing well, especially between the stalks. Then drain and chop, separating the green leafy parts from the stalks, which will have a slightly longer cooking time. Chop the stalks into 1 inch widths and chop the leaves in half if large.
- Fry the vegetables first, starting with the buk choi stalks, then adding the leaves and optional bean sprouts. Remove.
- Use a slotted spoon to remove the meat from the marinade. Cook to brown, stirring often.
- Then add the marinade and cook to release its flavours.
- Taste and add salt as necessary.
- Serve with white rice.