
Easy to prepare, this Thai steak salad delivers so much fresh flavour with a kick from the Thai chilies!
I was first introduced to skirt steak salad when I made Giada De Laurentiis’ Italian Steak Salad with arugula salad and parmesan cheese and I made it so often! It’s easy & light and full of different textures and flavours and easy to riff on! Add grilled veggies, focaccia croutons etc… I digress, this isn’t about that salad, it’s about my love of steak salads lol
When is discovered this recipe I imagined my beloved skirt steak salad but with Thai flavours – savoury, sweet and spicy! I was all in and if it’s here on my blog then it’s because it was as good as I imagined!
A friend and co-worker of mine, Thithipa, sent me and some other friends a link to a cooking show which would be featuring her friend, local Chef Nongyao Truadmakkha. I watched, wrapped as she put it all together so easily. It was beautiful with the fresh herbs, full mint and basil leaves placed artfully overtop and I knew it was delicious from the ingredients used. I made it a couple of days later as soon as I could get to the grocery store for the ingredients I was missing. Both my husband and I loved it and of course, I posted the cooking process on my Instagram account called Vanilla Bean Montreal, which I encourage you to follow. I try new recipes and post step-by-step videos of the process. I also share the recipes that I love, like this one so don’t miss a beat and follow me 🙂
Here is the link to the episode of 5 Chefs dans ma cuisine featuring Chef Truadmakkha so you can see how she makes it.
I hope you enjoy it and please let me know in the comments what you thought of it.
Stephanie

Servings |
Servings
|
- 1 lb Skirt steak (bavette) can be 1.5 lb
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 tsp Soy Sauce or Tamari or coconut aminos
- 2 tsp hoisin sauce
- Fresh cracked pepper to taste (preferably white pepper)
- 3 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 lime Juice only
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 4 cloves garlic finely minced or grated
- 2 thai chilies or other minced. Modify qty to your taste. I used Fresno chilies & removed the seeds to reduce heat level
- 1 tbsp grilled rice powder If you can find. It adds texture
- mint leaves torn, to taste (leave some leaves whole for a nicer presentation)
- Cilantro torn, to taste (I use the stems too, chopped)
- Thai Basil torn, or regular basil , (leave some leaves whole for a nicer presentation)
- Green onions minced, to taste
- 1/2 french shallot mined
- 2 kaffir lime leaves julienned (I couldn’t find any so I omitted)
- romaine lettuce, or similar torn, enough for 4 portions
- lebanese cucumbers thinly sliced (you can use regular cucumbers, remove seeds and thinly slice)
- 1 cup uncooked sushi or shortgrain rice cooked and kept warm. I use a rice cooker.
Ingredients
Skirt Steak, Marinade (Marinate 8+ hours)
Vinaigrette (can be made 1 day ahead)
Garnish
Rice (optional)
|
![]() |
- Marinade In a bowl or Tupperware, combine ingredients for marinade and coat beef well using a pastry brush. Cover and place in the fridge for a minimum of 8 hours. Cooking day Remove skirt steak from fridge and allow to temper for around 30 minutes. You don’t want to grill meat that’s straight from the fridge. Preheat a non stick pan, grill pan or cast Iron pan on med-high and sear 4 to 5 minutes per side. Depends on desired internal temperature and thickness of meat. Add salt and pepper. Ideally you want it to be medium. Too cooked may result in tough or dry meat and too rare will make blood/juices run into your salad – not pretty. Absolutely allow meat to rest for minimum 10 minutes off heat. Slice thinly across the grain and set aside. In a large bowl, combine torn herbs, green onions, shallot and lime leaves if using. Coat fully with most of the vinaigrette. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Add powdered grilled rice, if using. In a large shallow serving dish, place chopped romaine leaves and cucumbers to line the bottom. Top with beef salad and enjoy immediately. Serving suggestion: I made simple sticky rice and paced it in a mound on one side of my serving dish next to the steak salad. It ends up mixing as you serve yourselves and I personally love the combo.
Grilled rice powder is an ingredient often found in Thai cuisine. It consists of raw grains of rice which is cooked dry until golden and then ground into powder using a mortar and pestle or spice grinder. It adds a toasty, nutty flavour and texture.
I couldn’t find fresh lime leaves so I purchased dry ones and ground them to a powder in my mortar and pestle. I added some to the vinaigrette and to the steak once cooked.