Ingredients

• 1 tsp of soy sauce
• 2 tbsp of rice vinegar
• 2 tbsp of chili garlic sauce
• 1/2 tsp of 5-spice
• 1/2 tsp of ginger puree or grated ginger
• 3 cloves of roughly chopped garlic
• some black pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp of vegetable oil
• 8 oz of rice noodles
• 2 tsp of fish sauce
• 1/4 cup of chopped peanuts
• 1/2 cup of chopped cilantro
• 1/3 cup of shredded carrot

Instructions

Step 1

Transcript: Firecracker Beef on Rice Noodle Salad
Hi, I'm Chef John Mitzewich for About.com, if you like spicy food you're going to love this recipe - it's called firecracker beef.

And there is the beef we're going to use - it's called skirt steak. No relation to rump roast, it's 3/4 of a pound, beautifully marbled. Cut it in 4 pieces. We're going to make a spicy marinade for it.

Step 2

Spicy Firecracker Beef Marinade
So we have:

* 1 tsp of soy sauce
* 2 tbsp of rice vinegar
* 2 tbsp of chili garlic sauce (you'll find that in the Asian section)
* 1/2 tsp of 5-spice
* 1/2 tsp of ginger puree or grated ginger
* 3 cloves of roughly chopped garlic
* some black pepper to taste
* 1 tbsp of vegetable oil

Step 3

Marinate the Firecracker Beef
We're going to mix that very well and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Step 4

Prepare the Rice Noodle Salad
Now, on to the rice noodles. We're going to serve the spicy beef on cold rice noodle salad. So I have 8 oz of rice noodles, those are the thin ones. We're going to boil those for 4 minutes, they cook fast, and then we're going to rinse them in very cold water and drain them very well. We don't want a wet salad.

Add 2 tsp of fish sauce, which is a fermented condiment, kind of like soy sauce. We're going to add 2 tbsp of vegetable oil, we're going to add 2 tbsp of rice vinegar, 1/3 cup of shredded carrot. Mix it up and refrigerate until needed.

Step 5

Sear the Spicy Beef
Alright, in a very hot preheated dry pan, we're going to sear the beef for 2 minutes per side. We want it rare, but we want it kind of caramelized on the outside. You're going to let that cool to room temperature.

Step 6

Toss the Salad
And then we're going to finish the salad. We're going to add 2 more tbsp of rice vinegar, 1/4 cup of chopped peanuts, 1/2 cup of chopped cilantro, toss that together and our salad is ready as a base for this delicious firecracker beef.

Step 7

Slice the Firecracker Beef
To finish the beef we're going to slice it across the grain. It is so nice and rare and juicy and delicious. So we have the sliced beef and we also have the drippings to which we're going to add the beef back into later. Preheat the pan very well and we're going to sear those beef slices for just a minute or two, just to caramelize the outside and the inside is still going to be really juicy and delicious.

Step 8

Serve the Spicy Firecracker Beef and Noodle Salad
Go ahead and add the hot slices back to the drippings and you're going to top the cold, kind of tangy noodle salad with that hot, spicy firecracker beef, maybe a little sprinkle of peanuts. So amazingly delicious, and such a great contrast between the cold and the hot, and the sweet and the sour, and the spicy and the salty. It's just a great, great dish. I hope you give that a try. Enjoy.