Summer Beef

Thankfully, my air conditioning works very well, but I am not quite able to push from my mind the heat that is currently pressing around the edges of my climate-controlled little house. The few excursions I have to make each day are reminder enough. The old Saturn will barely make it up the "Hill" of Chapel Hill with the air conditioning running, so I turn it off to avoid being pursued by more powerful vehicles at a distance too close for comfort. Upon returning from a recent ten minute dash to the grocery store, I was told that I smelled hot. I did not inquire into the particulars of this bouquet, but I can guess what was meant. Other than the smell of perspiration beading on the neck and upper lip--which I don't think that I had yet acquired--it's the smell of hot hair, of reheated soaps and lotions layered on throughout the morning hours and now releasing their perfumes all at once, of scorched rubber shoe bottoms, and of the initial stages of burning cotton.

Even if I manage to stay inside, this heat seeps beneath closed doors and through window joints. It bakes wood and shingles so that the centers of rooms are warmer than the peripheries. I almost thought the heat was making its own sort of droning sound until I discovered a wasp nest attached to the front porch window frame.

When in the midst of a heat wave, one starts to crave something cool, crunchy, and technicolored for dinner. Something that must be eaten with cold beer. Something with a kick, but not so strong as to bring on the sweats. That something, I have found, is a Thai beef salad. The beef can be grilled during the (marginally) cooler morning hours and refrigerated. No other heat generating steps are required. This salad is full of cool flavors: carrots, lime, cabbage, and cilantro. And hot summer nights are made for cold rare beef, its pink flesh infused with jalepeno and sour lime peel. I am convinced, too, that eating brightly colored food makes one feel more fresh, and this salad incorporates nearly all the colors of the rainbow.

"Thai" Beef Salad
serves 4, scare quotes added because of the questionable authenticity of this recipe


2 tablespoons peanuts, coarsely chopped
1 one inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced
2 tablespoons grated lime zest
1 jalepeno chili, halved
4 tablespoons finely chopped shallot
2 1/2 teaspoons sugar
4 tablespoons Thai fish sauce
3 tablespoons sesame or peanut oil
1 1/2 pound sirloin or flank steak
4 tablespoons fresh squeezed lime juice
1 medium head red cabbage, halved and thinly sliced
2 carrots, thinly sliced on diagonal
2 cups bean sprouts
1 mango, peeled and thinly sliced
large bunch of torn basil leaves
1 cup packed cilantro
3 scallions, cut into 2 inch lengths and then sliced into strips
salt and fresh ground pepper

1. For marinade: Process ginger, lime zest, jalepeno, 2 tablespoons chopped shallot, and 2 teaspoons sugar in a food processor to form a coarse paste. Add 1 tablespoon fish sauce and 1 teaspoon oil. Pulse to combine. Place steak on a large plate and coat both sides with marinade. Marinate in refrigerator for up to 2 hours.
2. Make dressing: In a small bowl, combine lime juice with remaining 3 tablespoons fish sauce, 1/2 teaspoon sugar, and two tablespoons shallot. Slowly add the remaining 2 tablespoons oil, whisking constantly until emulsified.
3. Heat grill on medium-high heat. Salt and pepper steak. Grill steak, about 5 minutes per side for medium-rare. Err on the rare side. Transfer to cutting board to rest at least 5 minutes.
4. Toss cabbage, bean sprouts, carrot slices, mango, basil, and cilantro in large bowl with dressing. Arrange a mound of salad on each serving plate. Thinly slice beef on the bias, and place on top of salad. Garnish with scallions and peanuts.