Beef Skewers with Green Apple Salad

Mai Pham, a chef, and cookbook author, came to the United States from Vietnam. In this scrumptious dish, she substitutes tart green apples for green mango, a more common ingredient in Southeast Asian cuisine.

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

Bamboo skewers

1 pound flank steak

3 stalks lemongrass, root end trimmed, tough outer leaves discarded

1 tablespoon minced shallot

4 teaspoons Asian fish sauce

2 teaspoons soy sauce

2 teaspoons sugar

Dressing:

3 tablespoons fresh lime juice

3 tablespoons water

3 tablespoons sugar

3 tablespoons fish sauce

1 large garlic clove, chopped

1/2 teaspoon minced serrano chili, see cook’s notes

Salad:

4 unpeeled Granny Smith apples

1/2 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves

1/4 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves

1/4 cup chopped salted roasted peanuts

DIRECTIONS

Soak bamboo skewers in water.

Pat beef dry and cut across the grain into 1/4-inch thick slices.

Cut a 3-inch portion off the root end of lemongrass; cut each of these portions into slices (upper stalks can be discarded or used to flavor curry or broth). Mince it or place in mini food processor and pulse to finely mince.

In a nonreactive bowl, stir minced lemongrass with shallots, 4 teaspoons fish sauce, soy sauce and 2 teaspoons sugar; add beef and toss. Marinate at room temperature for 20 minutes.

Prepare grill; heat to medium-high and clean and oil the grate.

Place all dressing ingredients in blender; puree until smooth and set aside.

Thread any small pieces of beef on bamboo skewers to prevent it from falling through grate. Grill beef in batches, turning once, until lightly charred, about 2 minutes per batch. Transfer to plate.

Cut unpeeled apples into matchsticks; gently toss with two-thirds of the dressing, plus basil, cilantro, and peanuts. Mound onto 4 plates and top with beef. Drizzle some of the remaining dressing over the beef.

— “Pleasures of the Vietnamese Table” by Mai Pham as adapted in “The Gourmet Cookbook” by Ruth Reichl