Two-way summer glass noodle salad

With Beaujolais Villages Marc Dudet 2020

"With the steak and tofu together, the challenge is the find a wine that fits both."

When I lived in London, I worked very close to Harvey Nicols in Knightsbridge. The top floor restaurant there serves nice sit-down lunch. I once had a steak glass noodle salad there and it was amazing. The steak was perfectly medium rare and the juice of the steak blended wonderfully with the glass noodles. I have been trying to replicate that salad and I have created my own version of steak glass noodle salad. In the meantime, I created a tofu version of this salad for anyone who doesn't want a piece of steak in hot summer.

Two-way summer glass noodle salad

Each serves 4

Ingredients:

• 200g of glass noodles; or three balls of dry glass noodles if you use the classic glass noodle pack; soaked in warm water for at least 15 minutes until soft, then rinse in cold water and drain

• 2 carrots, peeled, thinly sliced

• Half cucumbers, thinly sliced

• 1 stalk of kale leaves, sliced

• 1 block of hard tofu, roughly 300-350g, sliced into half centimetres’ thick

• 1 rib-eye steak

• 3 stalks of fresh rosemary

• 3 stalks of fresh thyme

• 4 gloves of garlics

• 1 generous knob of butter

• Toasted sesame, for garnis

Marinades for the glass noodles and vegetables:

• 4 tablespoon of sesame oil

• 3 teaspoon of fish sauce

• Juice of 1 lime

• 2 tablespoons of honey

• 2 tablespoons of soy sauce

• Salt and peppers

Marinades for the tofu:

• 1 tablespoon of light soy sauce

• 1 teaspoon of dark soy sauce

• 1 teaspoon of sesame oil

• 1 teaspoon of corn starch flour

• Half teaspoon of sugar

• Salt and peppers

Methods:

1. Marinate the glass noodles, cucumbers, carrots and kale leaves in separate bowls for at least 15 minutes. Remove excess liquid from the vegetables after marinating

2. Mix the tofu marinade ingredients without the corn starch flour. Pat dry the tofu slices, spoon the marinades to the tofu and marinate for 15 minutes. Sprinkle the corn starch flour on all surfaces of the tofu slices

3. Heat up a non-stick frying pan and add one tablespoon of olive oil. Test the oil by putting the tip of a wooden chopstick to the oil. The oil is hot enough if bubbles formed around the chopstick. Add the tofu slices and fry for 3-4 minutes each side or until golden. Add any leftover marinades to the pan. Fry for 1 more minute and remove from heat

4. Heat up a non-stick frying pan in high heat. Add one tablespoon of olive oil after the pan is very hot. Add the rib-eye steak. Sprinkle some rock sea salt and pepper on the top. Fry for around 3-4 minutes

5. Add the garlic, rosemary, thyme and butter and then turn the steak to cover the herbs and garlic. Fry for another 3-4 minutes in high heat for medium rare. Tilt the pan after 2 minutes and baste the butter juice onto the steak

6. Remove from heat, let it stand for 10 minutes and cut into slices

7. Mix the marinated glass noodles, cucumbers, carrots and kale leaves in the serving bowl. Remove the excess liquid if any. Lay the fried tofu and sliced steak on the top of each bowl. Pour the juice from frying the tofu and steak to the respective bowl and sprinkle the toasted sesame before serving

Tips:

• If you prefer more tender kale leaves, you can rub them with the lime juice first for around 1-2 minutes before adding the rest of the marinades

• Always fry the steak in high heat so that the juice is maintained and the flavour comes out

Wine pairing:

This is another wonderful summer dish. This glass noodle salad is very versatile that you can match a lot of different ingredients with it. I have attempted a two-way salad this time – healthy tofu and hearty rib-eye steak.

I would have paired it with a high acidity citrusy white wine if I only had the fried tofu for this dish. However, with the steak and tofu together, the challenge is the to find a wine that fits both. I decided to go for a bottle of Beaujolais. The gamay characteristics of red fruits, bubble gum complements the sweetness of the honey and lime sauce. The earthiness of the wine goes well with the steak. At the same time, the gamay fruity characteristics still go very well with the soy sauce-flavoured fried tofu.