Thai Sun Dried Crispy Beef

Ingredients

• 2 lbs flank steaks (I successfully have substituted other inexpensive cuts as well)
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped lemongrass
• 2 bird's eye chili peppers (my mom keeps a fresh supply of these in the freezer)
• 5 tablespoons chopped garlic (I am guilty of using a heavy hand with the garlic, but it suits my family just fine!)
• 5 tablespoons chopped chinese parsley roots
• 1/4 cup chopped shallot
• 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh ginger
• 1/4 cup fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons sugar (I had only cooking splenda in the house once, and it went undetected by Ry)
• 6 finely chopped kaffir lime leaves
• 5 cups oil, for deep-frying (try to choose an oil with a high smoke point such as canola, sunflower etc...)
• sriracha sauce

Directions

1. 1

   Cut steak lengthwise, with grain, in strips 1-2 inches wide and 4-5 inches long.

2. 2

   Combine lemongrass, chili peppers, garlic, parsley roots, shallots and ginger into a mortar or food processor and grind together, until well mixed.

3. 3

   Add mixture from last step to a gallon sized zip top freezer bag and add fish sauce, sugar and kaffir lime leaves -- stir to mix in new ingredients.

4. 4

   Add beef strips and mix well to coat (don't be afraid to get your hands dirty, reach into that bag, it'll be worth it).

5. 5

   Refrigerate bagged beef mixture overnight.

6. 6

   Lay beef strips out on a large cookie sheet and heat in the oven on the lowest setting for 5-7 hours, until dried (historically in Thailand, this step was the sun-drying step).

7. 7

   The dried beef can either be deep fried immediately for a couple minutes to give it a crispy outside (careful not to crowd the oil), or you could refrigerate a portion for frying later that week.

8. 8

   Serve hot with Sriracha sauce and sticky rice, or steamed jasmine rice.