Make sauce to marinade beef. Finely mince 1 bird-eye chilli, 2 french shallots, 3 garlic cloves, 2 lemongrass stalks and put in a bowl. Add 2-3 tablespoons fish sauce, 1 tablespoon oyster sauce, 1 tablespoon sesame oil and 1 teaspoon sugar. Combine and mix through evenly.

Slice beef thinly and then into thin strips. Marinade with the prepared sauce and set aside for at least 1 hour to infuse the flavours. The longer the marination time, the better to flavour the beef.

Rice vermicelli. Depending on the brand, it may requires a different preparation and cooking method. Some brands require the vermicelli to be soak in cold water for 20 minutes before cooking in hot water for 3-5 minutes. Other brands doesn’t require soaking the vermicelli in cold water. Please read and follow the instruction on the packet.

Toasted unsalted peanuts. Toast the peanuts on a dry pan until slightly browned and smoky. Remove and let the peanuts cool down before crushing them to be used as a garnish on top of the salad. This gives the salad a nutty, crunchy texture.

Salad dressing sauce. Finely mince 1 bird-eye chilli and 2 cloves of garlic. Cut 2 limes into halves and squeeze the lime juice in a bowl, add an equal portion of fish sauce and water and 1 tablespoon sugar. Add minced garlic and chilli. Stir and mix through evenly until sugar is dissolved.

Slice cucumber and carrot into thin julienne strips.

Separate mint leaves and chop roughly.

Heat some cooking oil in a sauce pan on medium to high heat. Once the oil is hot, stir-fry the marinated beef strips in small batches. It doesn’t take long to cook the beef if it has been cut into thin strips, between 1-3 minutes in small batches.

Assemble the salad. In a serving bowl, add vermicelli (this can be served at room temperature). Place some julienned carrots and cucumber on top of vermicelli. Add mint leaves and some of the stir-fry lemongrass beef strips. Garnish with toasted crushed peanuts and then dressed with the dressing sauce. It is now ready to serve.