Beef Heaven – Nua Sewan – Thai Beef Jerky

I gotta confess I’m not a beef jerky kinda girl.  In fact, besides Nua Sewan that I tasted in a Thai cooking class eons ago, I never even tasted beef jerky until last month when I bought a package from Trader Joe’s.  To be honest, I thought it was yucky.  So why make it?

To begin with, I had a huge sirloin and I’m only one person, so after cooking a piece of it for dinner I was still left with a lot and I recalled how much I liked the recipe I learned in my cooking class.  Of course that recipe used all sorts of ingredients that are definitely not Paleo – so here’s my version.  I think it’s pretty terrific…I hope you do too!

Beef Heaven – Nua Sewan – Thai Beef Jerky

Though I eat this as a snack, you can serve it warm with rice and cucumber salad as a very satisfying meal.

1 1/2 pounds grass-fed steak (I used sirloin)

3 tablespoons coriander seeds

2 teaspoons ground fennel

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

3 tablespoons coconut aminos or teriyaki sauce

2 tablespoons fish sauce

1/2 cup maple or palm sugar

Cut the steak into very thin slices (might be easier if you freeze the meat slightly)

In a small plastic ziplock bag, pound the coriander seeds with a heavy object (bottom of a skillet works just fine) until the most of the seeds are cracked.

Add the fennel and pepper; shake until combined.

In a large ziplock bag or bowl, stir together the coconut aminos and fish sauce.  Add the sugar and stir until dissolved.

Add the spices to the liquid ingredients.

Add the beef; let stand, covered, 30 minutes or overnight in the refrigerator.

Heat oven to 450°F. Line two jelly roll pan with foil. Place rack over foil.  Line meat on racks.

Bake 10 minutes or until browned.  Turn.

Bake 5 to 10 minutes longer or until meat looks dried.

Put on serving plate or store in plastic bag or container and refrigerate.

It’s hard to determine the servings as I just leave it in the refrigerator and snack on it.