Vietnamese Lemongrass Beef Bowl

As Melbourne moves back into strict lockdown, I know I'll be looking for some interesting ways to spice up my at-home lunches! Here I give you a Vietnamese bowl, with all the veg you could want plus some delicious lemongrass-scented beef and a tangy lime dressing. The vermicelli pads it out to make it a satisfying lunch or dinner pick. There's a bit of prep involved with the vegetables but once that's done it all comes together super quick. Enjoy!

Serves 2

Prep 10 minutes

Cook 10 minutes

Ingredients

For the beef:

200g rump steak, cut into 2cm slices

1 tbsp fish sauce

1 tsp brown sugar

1 garlic clove, crushed (or 1 tsp garlic paste)

1 tbsp finely chopped lemongrass, or lemongrass paste

For the bowl:

100g vermicelli noodles, soaked in hot water until pliable

4 cos lettuce leaves

1 small carrot, julienned

1 small lebanese cucumber, thinly sliced

2 spring onions, very thinly sliced longways

1 long red chili, finely sliced (deseed it to take some of the heat out)

1 lime

Handful coriander and mint leaves

Crushed peanuts

For the nuoc cham (dressing):

1/4 cup fish sauce

3 tsp caster sugar

Juice of 1 lime (2 if it's not being overly juicy)

2 tbsp rice wine vinegar

1 tsp chili flakes

Method:

1. Place the beef strips in a bowl with the fish sauce, sugar, garlic and lemongrass. Massage everything together and leave to marinate for 5-10 minutes.

2. Mix the nuoc cham dressing ingredients together. Set aside.

3. Prepare a small bowl with iced water. Pop the spring onion and herbs in. The spring onion will curl up and look very pretty, and the herbs will be fresh and vibrant when you serve them. Don't take them out until you are plating your bowls.

4. Place a wok over high heat. Pour in the beef and cook, using tongs to keep it moving, until seared on all sides. Because the beef is sliced so thinly it won't need long, 5 minutes should do it (or a bit longer if you aren't a fan of pink in the middle!)

5. Assemble your bowls: start with the noodles, then add your lettuce leaves, carrot, cucumber, spring onion and herbs. Place the lemongrass beef on top of the rice noodles. Pour the nuoc cham into a shallow dish and wedge it into the middle of your bowl (this is just me being fancy - it's completely fine to just pour it over as a dressing at this point). Finish off with a wedge of lime, peanuts and sliced red chili and dig in for a fun and easy Vietnamese style lunch.