Seared Beef Salad by Otro Restaurant 

In an airy Georgian townhouse in the heart of Edinburgh’s West End, Otro Restaurant is a family-run brasserie offering their take on Scottish & modern European favourites. Enjoy local produce and a bespoke wine list carefully selected and creatively prepared while you unwind in the beautiful surroundings, just a stone’s throw from all of Edinburgh’s major sights.

This dish is perfect as something lighter after overindulging during the festive period. Packed full of nutrients without compromising on flavour, this salad combines loads of vegetables with seared Scottish sirloin to give you a guilt-free crowd-pleasing treat.

For information about Otro Restaurant visit www.otrorestaurant.co.uk

Ingredients: Serves 4 
For the dressing:

70g palm or muscovado sugar
100ml light soy sauce 
7g fresh ginger 
10g bonito flakes
10ml sesame oil
80ml lime juice 
60ml water 
20ml fish sauce 
2 red chillies, de-seeded and thinly sliced 
2 cloves of garlic, crushed 

For the salad
2 Scottish sirloin steaks (about 300g each) 
1 cucumber, thinly sliced 
200g sugar snap peas
4 baby gem salad leaves, separated
1 carrot, shaved or thinly sliced
2 small red onions, sliced 
3 few radishes, sliced
5 button mushrooms, sliced 
a handful of peanuts, toasted 
20g fresh Thai basil leaves
20g fresh mint leaves
20g fresh coriander leaves

Method
1 Start with the dressing. Put all the dressing ingredients into a small saucepan and warm gently to 60˚-70˚C. Keep at that temperature for 5 minutes without boiling. 
2 Strain the liquid through a fine-mesh sieve and adjust seasoning if necessary with more fish sauce, lime juice or sugar. You are looking for a nice balance of sweet, salty and sour flavours.
3 Retain half of the dressing for the salad for the beef. 
4 Place the beef in the remaining marinade for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
5 Drain the beef from the marinade. Place a frying pan over a high heat and sear the beef on all sides in a glug of vegetable oil until it has a nicely caramelised crust but is still rare inside (around 2 minutes on each side)
6 Rest the beef for 5 minutes before slicing thinly just before serving.
7 Toss all the salad ingredients (except the herbs) with the beef. Drizzle with generous amounts of the dressing. 
8 Serve in a large bowl, garnish with the fresh herbs.

In association with Taste Communications.

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