Spicy Beef on Cold Rice Noodle Salad

This is and amazing recipe I have ripped off from Chef John's foodwishes.com blog. It's a flavourful asian inspired cold noodle salad with hot, spicy beef on top. It combines explosive flavours with a hot and cold sensation. I strongly recommend trying this out.

Ingredients:
300-400 g lean beef
Marinate:
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp soy sauce
2 tbsp chili sauce
1/2 tsp 5 spice (buy it in the asian shop)
1 tsp freshly grated ginger
3 cloves of crushed garlic
1 tbsp neutral oil
Noodle:
1 pack of rice vermicelli
2 tsp fish sauce
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2+2 tbsp rice vinegar
1/3 cup shredded carrots
Handful salted peanuts
1 handful fresh cilantro

Mix the different ingredients for the marinate. The yellow balls you see are my ginger-garlic icecubes. I've just blended equal amounts of both and put them in a plastic bag for making ice cubes. This way you'll always have fresh ginger and garlic at hand.

Cut some lean beef into fine strips.

Marinate the meat for an hour or until you are ready to serve.

Boil a package of rice vermicelli ("rice spaghetti" from the asian shop) according to the package in plenty of unsalted water.

Once the noodles are tender, rinse them under cold, running water. This is an important step to avoid the noodles sticking together. Let the water drip off.

Add 2 tsp of fish sauce.

Add 2 tbsp of rice vinegar.

And finally add 2 tbsp of neutral oil. Mix well and put the noodle salad in the fridge until it's cooled down and ready to serve.

Shred 2 medium sized carrots. Chop a handful of fresh cilantro leafs.

Take the noodles out of the fridge. You might want to break them up a bit in case they stick together. Add the carrots and cilantro, a handful of salted peanut along with another 2 tbsp of rice vinegar. Mix well.

Heat up a wok/pan with a bit of neutral oil until it's nearly smoking. Quickly stir-fry the beef for a minute or until done.

Serve the steaming hot and spicy beef on top of the cold noodles.