Thai Beef Salad

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
• 1.5 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons palm sugar
• 450 g beef flap steak, room temperature
• Butter for frying steak
• 7 whole fresh Thai chili peppers
• 1 clove of garlic
• 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1 tsp shrimp paste (paste made from dried-salted fermented shrimp and krill)
• 1 green onion
• Half a cucumber
• Half an onion
• 1 carrot and a quarter of red cabbage
• 1 medium tomato
• 3-4 stalks fresh cilantro, any leafy greens
• Half a head of iceberg lettuce
• Additionally: granite mortar and pestle

Preparation:

1. In a small bowl, combine oyster sauce, black pepper, 1 tablespoon fish sauce, and 1 tablespoon sugar. Place the beef in a larger bowl and rub the mixture all over the beef. Let the beef marinate for a couple of minutes.
2. Add butter to the skillet and set over high heat. Cook the meat until the surface begins to caramelize, 4 minutes per side for medium-rare. Continue cooking until desired doneness is reached. Transfer the meat to a cutting board.
3. Meanwhile, crush the chili and garlic in a mortar. Then, in a large bowl, combine the crushed garlic and chili, to taste, with lime juice, shrimp paste, the remaining 1 tablespoon of sugar, and the remaining 1 tablespoon of fish sauce and mix well. Thinly slice the cooled beef and toss with the dressing.
4. Slice the green onions diagonally into 4 cm pieces. Peel the cucumbers with a vegetable peeler, alternating peeled and unpeeled strips lengthwise, then slice thinly. Thinly slice the onion and add to the beef in the dressing. Thinly shred the carrots and cabbage. Slice the tomatoes and iceberg lettuce into wedges. Combine all ingredients, arrange the iceberg lettuce wedges on a serving platter, top with the rest of the lettuce, and garnish with torn cilantro.