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Thai Masterchef Ian Kittichai never dreamt of becoming a chef. Growing up, he witnessed how his mother would toil and work long hours in the kitchen, and he didn’t desire to live a separate life.
But he would eventually find himself in the kitchen, and the more he spent time in there, the more he realized that cooking was what he was meant to do. Kittichai eventually became the first Thai to hold the position of an executive chef for a five-star hotel.
Chef Ian with host Gelli Victor
He was in Manila recently to promote the show “3 Chefs, 1 City,” which airs in the Asian Food Channel. In line with this, he held a public cooking demo at the Eastwood Mall and showed the crowd how to prepare the Grilled Beef Salad, a popular dish from his flagship restaurant, Issaya Siamese Club, in Bangkok.
Here’s the recipe for his fiery appetizer.
Grilled Beef Salad
Serves 2
Ingredients:
20 grams coriander roots
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
40 grams garlic
30 grams oyster sauce
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 200-gram beef tenderloin
70 grams cucumber, cut lengthwise into 3-inch strips
70 grams cherry tomato, halved
70 ml red seafood dipping sauce
50 grams onion, sliced
2 red finger chili, thinly sliced
30 grams celery, diagonally thinly sliced
Make:
1. Pound coriander roots, black peppercorns and garlic until smooth. Stir in oyster sauce and oil, then rub the mixture on the beef. Marinate overnight.
2. Soak cucumber and tomatoes in seafood dressing for 30 minutes.
3. Heat oil in large nonstick frying pan, grill sirloins on both sides until desired doneness is reached. Rest on wire rack for 5 minutes then slice thinly.
4. On each plate, place cucumber strips, tomatoes and grilled beef slices on top.
5. Pour red seafood dipping sauce on top and decorate with onion, red finger chili and celery. Serve.
Ingredients for the red seafood dipping sauce:
20 grams garlic
25 grams coriander root
30 grams red finger chili, deseeded
22 grams red bird’s eye chili
100 ml fish sauce
100 ml lime juice
30 grams palm sugar
To make the dipping sauce, place all ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth.
