Beef and vermicelli salad wraps

Photo by Wai Lin Coultas

Beef, vegie and vermicelli rice paper rolls combine flavours of Vietnam with Thai and Straits Chinese influences – a perfect light tasty starter.

By Wai Lin Coultas

MARRYING THE essence of Vietnamese beef salad, fresh rice paper rolls with Thai and Straits Chinese influences, and the season’s herbs and vegetables yields a salad wrap breaming with refreshing healthy goodness – the perfect light tasty starter without any need for a dipping sauce.

Ingredients
450g rump steak, thinly sliced
1 iceberg lettuce, whole leaves only
100g dried vermicelli, soaked in boiling water till tender, then drained, cooled, cut into manageable lengths and tossed in
4 tbsp sesame oil
1 brown onion, peeled and thinly sliced into rings
1 1/2 small carrots, finely julienned
180g red capsicum, finely julienned
85g sweet pea pods, diagonally sliced finely
11g fresh chives, chopped
36g fresh basil leaves and sprig tips
1 heaped handful fresh mint leaves and sprig tips

For beef marinade
4 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp maple infused syrup
2 cm piece fresh ginger, finely grated
1/4 tsp ground chilli

For salad dressing
3 limes, juiced
4 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
6 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp maple infused syrup
3 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp poppy seeds

Instructions
1 Marinate beef for 2 hours before stir frying until just cooked through. Set aside.
2 Optional – stir fry onion rings in olive oil till caramelised.
3 Toss onion rings in salad dressing, drain off excess dressing and set aside.
4 Repeat step 3 with saved dressing and repeat in sequence with carrot, capsicum, pea pods, basil, chives, mint and lastly the vermicelli.
5 To assemble 12 salad wraps, evenly distribute the dressed basil onto 12 lettuce leaves, followed by equal amounts of the dressed vermicelli, beef, pea pods, carrot, mint, capsicum and lastly, chives.
6 Fold in both ends of lettuce leaf and roll into a sealed parcel.
Makes 12 salad wraps