Des Cahill serves up some delicious beef and serves it with basmati rice and pineapple salad.
Ingredients
- 1 kg beef flank (cut into thin strips)
- 2 onions (peeled and sliced)
- 2 tblsp groundnut oil
- 2 onions (peeled and thinly sliced)
- 4 kaffir lime leaves
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 3 star anise
- 400 ml coconut milk
- 100 ml chicken stock
- 1 tsp palm sugar (or soft brown sugar)
- 2 tblsp light soy sauce
- 2 tblsp fish sauce
- small bunch coriander leaves (roughly chopped)
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 150 g basmatic rice
- for the curry paste:
- 4 large shallots (peeled and chopped)
- 5 garlic cloves (peeled and roughly chopped)
- 5 cm piece fresh root ginger (peeled and chopped)
- 3 lemon grass stalks (trimmed and thinly sliced)
- 4–5 long, red chillies (trimmed, deseeded and roughly chopped)
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 2 tblsp water
- for the pineapple salad:
- ½ pineapple (diced)
- 1 small red onion (trimmed and diced)
- 2 tomatoes (diced)
- ½ cucumber (de-seeded and diced)
- 4 sprigs coriander (chopped)
Method
- First make the curry paste by placing the shallots, garlic, ginger, lemon grass, chillies, turmeric and water in a food processor and blending until it is a smooth paste.
- Place the oil in a pot over a medium heat and stir in the paste and cook for about 2 minutes. Add the sliced onions and cook them off for 4-5 minutes until soft. Then add the beef and stir until its coated with the paste, and cook out for 5 minutes.
- Then add the kaffir leaves, cinnamon and star anise and pour in the coconut milk and chicken stock, bring everything to just under the boil and reduce the heat to a simmer. Stir in the sugar, soy and fish sauce and leave over a medium heat for 1 ½ to 2 hours.
- Meanwhile make the pineapple salad by placing the pineapple, red onion, tomatoes, cucumber and coriander in a bowl and season. Cook the rice according to the packet instructions.
- When the meat is tender remove from heat and sprinkle with chopped coriander. Serve with rice and pineapple salad.
