This easy spicy delicious Thai-inspired dish has become one of our favorites. The fusion of spicy peppers, sweet and dark soy sauces, and cool soothing fresh basil and mint create the perfect blend of flavors to accompany the beef.
Flank steak is already a pretty lean cut of beef, but we lightened up the original recipe a bit more by using less oil.
Once your pantry is stocked with these Asian sauces, they last a long time, making this dish very economical to prepare again and again.
Serve with rice, and our equally delicious Thai green greens in peanut sauce for a full satisfying meal.
Spicy Thai Mint Beef
Weight Watchers Info: 6 PointsPlus per serving if split into 4 servings (rice is extra), 4 PointsPlus per serving if split into 6 servings (rice is extra)
Ingredients
- 3 teaspoons vegetable or canola oil
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 Thai chiles, such as prik kee noo, or 3 serrano chiles, stemmed and thinly sliced*
- 1 pound flank steak, very thinly sliced
- 3 shallots, thinly sliced
- 1 red bell pepper, stemmed, cored, seeded and cut into ⅛-inch thick slices
- ¼ cup fish sauce*
- 2 tablespoons sweet soy sauce*
- 2 tablespoons black soy sauce*
- 1 tablespoon chili paste in soy bean oil*
- 1½ cups chopped fresh Thai basil leaves*
- 1 cup whole fresh mint leaves
Instructions
- In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat.
- Add the garlic and chiles and cook until aromatic, about 30 seconds. Add the steak and cook, stirring frequently, for 2 minutes. Add the shallots and bell pepper and cook for 1 minute.
- Add the fish sauce, sweet soy sauce, black soy sauce and chili paste. Bring the mixture to a low simmer and cook, stirring frequently until the meat is cooked through and the vegetables are tender, about 3 minutes.
- Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the basil and mint until wilted.
- Transfer to a serving dish and serve over steamed white rice.
Notes
*Can be found at specialty Asian markets
Serving suggestion: sticky or steamed white rice
Do NOT try to substitute regular soy sauce for the dark and sweet soy sauces. Both the sweet and dark taste more like molasses than regular soy sauce (you could probably substitute the sweet for the dark and vice versa if you had to), and it would be way too salty if you used the regular stuff.
Serving suggestion: sticky or steamed white rice
Do NOT try to substitute regular soy sauce for the dark and sweet soy sauces. Both the sweet and dark taste more like molasses than regular soy sauce (you could probably substitute the sweet for the dark and vice versa if you had to), and it would be way too salty if you used the regular stuff.
This is one of my all time favorites that I first tasted while stationed in Thailand decades ago. Strange that most Thai restaurants don’t serve it. I think it tastes better without the fish sauce.