I love Asian salads and recently discovered fermented chilli black beans. They are so yummy, when I went to the Chinese supermarket I noticed them amongst all the other jars of sauces and Asian ingredients. When I go next time I am going to spend more time looking at all the jars to see if I can find more gems like these. As we are all more health conscious now a days I thought I would try these buckwheat noodles and they were so yummy. I didn’t have the usual vegetables like carrot or cabbage so I chucked in a handful of thawed frozen peas and sweet corn. They worked a treat, this salad is fresh, vibrant and extremely delicious.

Ingredients (serves 2)

For the marinade

• 1 steak, I used venison rump
• 1 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and inlet chopped
• 1 large garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• Juice of a lime
• 1 tbsp groundnut oil

For the salad

• 1 bunch of buckwheat noodles, cooked to instructions
• Good handful of frozen peas
• Good handful of frozen sweetcorn
• 2 tbsp fresh mint leaves, roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp fresh coriander leaves, roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp chives, snipped
• Good handful of unsalted peanuts, toasted

For the dressing

• 1 garlic clove, peeled and minced
• 1 thumb piece of ginger, peeled and minced
• Juice of a lime
• 1 tbsp kecap manis (Indonesian sweet soy sauce)
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp fish sauce
• 1 tsp sriracha sauce
• 2 tbsp black beans in chilli oil
• 1 tsp runny honey

Directions

1. Add all of the marinade ingredients into a bowl, whisk to combine. Add the steak cover with cling film and chill in the fridge for at least an hour but up to 24 hours.
2. While the steak is marinating, cook the noodles mine took 5 minutes. Drain and add to a bowl, add in the sweetcorn, peas, herbs and peanuts. Set aside.
3. Make the dressing by adding all of the ingredients into a jar or bowl, shake or whisk to combine. Add to the noodle salad and toss to combine.
4. When you are ready to cook the steak, add a drizzle of oil to a griddle pan (I used groundnut) until hot. Add the steak and sear on all sides for about a minute (I like mind medium). Leave to rest under foil for about 10 minutes.
5. To serve, share the noodles between 2 serving dishes, slice the rested steak and serve on top. Enjoy.