Thai waterfall beef salad (neua nam tok)
- Published: 16 Jul 20
- Updated: 25 Mar 24
This Thai waterfall beef salad dish is so refreshing, and surprisingly easy. It comes from Isaan in northeastern Thailand, and the nutty toasted rice brings a really interesting flavour that works so well with the fresh herbs and lime. You can replace the beef with grilled fish or brown shrimp, if you like.
Try this salad as part of a Thai feast, alongside a steamed whole fish, or thai grilled chicken.
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Serves 4 as part of a meal -
Hands-on time 30 min, plus marinating
Nutrition
- Calories
- 145kcals
- Fat
- 3.8g fat (1.5g saturated)
- Protein
- 20.9g
- Carbohydrates
- 5.5g (2.1g sugars)
- Fibre
- 1.8g
- Salt
- 0.2g
delicious. tips
You’re looking for a sour, salty, spicy, herbal balance – all those wonderful spiky northeastern Thai flavours people love. Feel free to play around with the seasonings the second time around. If you can’t find Thai shallots, use 1 large banana shallot, 2 small regular shallots or 2 spring onions instead.
You can buy ground toasted rice in Asian supermarkets, but it’s easy to make your own. Take a large handful of uncooked sticky rice (or Thai jasmine rice) and put it in a dry wok or frying pan over a low heat. Toast the rice, moving it all the time, until it smells nutty and has turned a dark golden brown. Grind it in a spice or coffee grinder, or in a pestle and mortar. Store in a jar and use as required. It has an unusual, nutty flavour. Ground roasted chillies are a staple seasoning in Thai salads, soups and curries. Buy them in Asian supermarkets or at Lotus Oriental (which sells Raitip ground chilli), or use an equal quantity of hot chilli powder.