Chilled Beef Roll Salad

Chilled Beef Roll Salad | Step 1: Cut the spring onion into small rings, roughly chop the garlic cloves, slice the bird’s eye chillies into rings, and cut the coriander into pieces about 1cm long. Do not chop the garlic too finely — it turns bitter easily when it meets hot oil later.

Chilled Beef Roll Salad | Step 2: Peel the potato and lotus root and slice them 2–3mm thick; slice the cucumber on the diagonal about 3mm thick. Slice half a lemon thinly and remove the seeds, keeping the other half for juice. Do not cut the potato and lotus root too thick, or the blanching time stretches out.

Chilled Beef Roll Salad | Step 3: Bring a pot of water to the boil and add the potato and lotus root slices first. Once it returns to the boil, keep it at medium for about 4 minutes, separating the slices gently with long chopsticks so they do not stick. Do not stir hard and continuously, or the potato will break up.

Chilled Beef Roll Salad | Step 4: When the potato and lotus root are nearly done, add the cucumber slices and blanch for just 20–30 seconds, then lift everything out immediately with a slotted spoon and drain thoroughly. Spread it out to cool a little so the residual heat does not keep softening the cucumber. The cucumber must not boil for 5 minutes alongside the potato or it loses its crispness.

Chilled Beef Roll Salad | Step 5: Put the spring onion, roughly chopped garlic, chilli rings, coriander and chilli flakes into a bowl, spreading them out lightly so the chilli flakes are not buried entirely under the wet aromatics. Wipe the bowl dry so the hot oil is less likely to spit when it goes in.

Chilled Beef Roll Salad | Step 6: Heat 30ml of cooking oil in a small pan over medium until the surface moves visibly and faint ripples appear. Pour half of it into the centre of the aromatics, pause for 3–5 seconds and stir gently, then pour in the rest. Oil that is too cool will not release the aroma; heated until it smokes heavily it scorches and turns bitter.

Chilled Beef Roll Salad | Step 7: Wash the deep pot, add about 2L of water and 4 slices of ginger, and bring to a full rolling boil over high heat. Do not reuse the water the vegetables were blanched in. If there is too little water or it is not hot enough, the frozen beef rolls sit in low-temperature water for a long time and turn tough.

Chilled Beef Roll Salad | Step 8: Without thawing it, add the beef to the boiling ginger water in 2–3 batches. Separate the slices gently with long chopsticks so the rolled meat unfurls naturally — do not stir hard enough to break it up. Tipping in all the beef at once drops the water temperature sharply, and the thin slices fall apart more easily.

Chilled Beef Roll Salad | Step 9: As soon as each batch has no raw red left in the centre, lift it out with a slotted spoon, shake off the water lightly and spread it on a rack. Do not rinse it under cold water and do not squeeze the slices. Do not let the beef cook to a dark grey, shrivelled state; while any pink centre remains it must keep cooking until done.

Chilled Beef Roll Salad | Step 10: Add the white sesame seeds, light soy sauce, black vinegar, oyster sauce and 80ml of cooled boiled water to the aromatics you poured the hot oil over, and stir until the oyster sauce has fully dissolved. Squeeze in the juice of the half lemon and add the deseeded lemon slices, then taste and add 0–40ml more cooled boiled water depending on the saltiness.

Chilled Beef Roll Salad | Step 11: Add the drained potato, lotus root and cucumber first, then the beef. Using chopsticks and a large spoon, fold gently from the bottom of the bowl upward so the dressing coats everything. Cover and refrigerate for about 20 minutes, turning it over gently once partway through.

Chilled Beef Roll Salad | Step 12: After chilling and absorbing the dressing, turn it over once more so the beef, potato, lotus root and cucumber sit naturally interleaved.