Vietnamese Lemongrass Beef Noodles Salad

This Vietnamese lemongrass beef noodle salad is packed with fresh herbs and veggies. It is served with char-grilled lemongrass beef and tangy umami sauce. The dish is incredibly refreshing and visually appealing.

Jump to:

• About The Taste & Flavour
• What Meat Cut To Use
• Ingredients & Substitutions
• How To Get A Char-Grilled Look Using A Pan
• How To Make Lemongrass Beef Salad
• Pro Recipe Expert Tips
• How To Serve And Store
• Recipe FAQs
• Watch How To Make It
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

About The Taste & Flavour

We first tasted this fantastic salad in a Vietnamese restaurant in Paris. We were forever hooked, and I've been trying to replicate the unforgettable flavors at home since then.

And I'm telling you, this is the best! I'd divide this meal into four components for better explanations:

Grilled meat - Marinated beef with lemongrass, ginger, fish sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, and chili. It already sounds fantastic, eh?

Herbs and veggies - Fresh flavors and textures of mint, cilantro, carrot, lettuce, and red cabbage.

Sauce - Tangy umami, slightly spicy sauce to douse on everything.

Noodles - Rice vermicelli noodles, plain, to carry all the beautiful flavors from the other components.

What Meat Cut To Use

We want flavourful, tender meat with that excellent char-grilled look. Since I've made this many times using different cuts of beef, here's what I can tell you.

Ribeye—If you can spend money on it, this is the best option. It has enough fat marbling in the meat to result in tender, grilled meat.

Sirloin—A tad cheaper than ribeye. It has less marbling fat, but it's still great for this.

Chuck—Surprisingly, Chuck's cut works fantastic! Buy a huge piece, and slice it yourself at home into thin strips.

PRO TIPS: Always slice meat against the meat grain to ensure tender meat after cooking. The grain of the meat refers to the direction of the muscle fibers in the meat.

Ingredients & Substitutions

Noodles—Preferably thin, round rice vermicelli noodles, not the flat ones used in stir-fry pad Thai recipes. If you can't find them, that's totally fine, too. We want very mild noodles to carry all the other amazing flavors from the meat and sauce.

NOTE: I don't recommend using egg-based noodles, as the flavor is too strong for this meal. If you have no other choice, use rice-based noodles or even plain rice itself.

Herbs and veggies—I love the combination of mint and cilantro for the herbs. If you have to choose between those two, go for the mint—lots of mints, just like in my fantastic quick Penang asam laksa recipe. For veggies, use crunchy, colorful, and mild-flavored veggies like carrots, lettuce, and red cabbage.

Fish sauce—Fish sauce is one of my must-have Asian sauces in our home. It's fermented fish with salt. Don't get offended by its name or smell (haha!). Trust me, it gives this fantastic umami flavor, just like in my Malaysian satay sauce.

SUBSTITUTION: Although it's not the same, you could use the same amount of less salt soy sauce instead.

Oyster sauce—Another must-have sauce in our home is oyster sauce. It's a thick sauce made with caramelized oyster juice, sugar, and soy sauce.

SUBSTITUTION: Although it's not the same, you could use the same amount of less salt soy sauce instead.

How To Get A Char-Grilled Look Using A Pan

Traditionally, this dish requires the meat to be fire-grilled. Let's be honest: Unless it's a planned weekend where the husband (or wife!) agrees to deal with the whole grilling-with-fire outside thing, it'll likely never happen. Right?

Well, here's my secret to having that char-grilled look by using a pan in the kitchen.

Use—A cast iron pan. I've been using this one for years. It's very durable (obviously) and never fails to give me the char-grilled looks as if I've been sweating grilling my chicken, meat, and fish outside on the fire grill. I have a few in different sizes.

How—Heat the cast-iron pan with some oil on medium-high heat until it's smoking hot. Add pieces of meat without overcrowding them. Cook untouched for 3-4 minutes, flip, and continue cooking for 1-2 minutes. You'll get perfect char-grilled looks, just like my Malaysian chicken satay!

How To Make Lemongrass Beef Salad

1. Prepare meat—Slice meat into ¼ inch thick strips of 2-3 inches.
2. Make marinade sauce—Pound lemongrass, ginger, garlic, and chili into a paste. Add to a bowl with fish sauce, sugar, and oyster sauce and mix well. I've also used my food chopper for this; it's totally fine and doable.
3. Marinate meat—Add the meat into the marinade sauce and mix well. Chill in the fridge, preferably overnight or at least 2 hours.
4. Prepare sauce—Pound ginger, garlic, and chili into a paste. Add them to a bowl with sugar and lime juice. Mix well.
5. Prepare veggies and herbs—Slice the veggies and prep the herbs.
6. Cook noodles—Cook rice vermicelli noodles in boiling water for a few minutes. Rinse under cold water and drain them.
7. Cook meat—Heat some oil in a cast-iron pan on medium heat until it's smoking hot. Add pieces of marinated meat without overcrowding them. Cook untouched for a few minutes, flip, and continue cooking.
8. Assemble—Place some noodles in a bowl, followed by the veggies. Add grilled meat, fried shallots, and veggies. Pour some sauce. Mix everything before taking a bite.

Pro Recipe Expert Tips

1. Marinate the meat for a few hours for unique flavors. I recommend doing it the night before, as you'll have less work on the day of.
2. The marinade and the sauce are made with the same ingredients (minus lemongrass for the sauce). I'd recommend making the sauce simultaneously since you have all the same ingredients.

How To Serve And Store

Serve—I like to serve this buffet style. This way, each person can serve themselves. The only way to give justice to this dish is by mixing everything so that you have a piece of everything in one bite. Very important!

Store—You can store everything in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. I'd not keep them longer than that because the herbs and veggies will look sad by then. You can marinate the meat up to 3-4 days in advance.

Recipe FAQs

Watch How To Make It

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