"Crying tiger" – grilled beef with spicy dipping sauce (Suea rong hai)

1. Rub the beef sirloin with the mixture of fish sauce, soy sauce, palm sugar and oil and marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes.

2. For the sauce, toast the raw rice in a dry frying pan for 5-6 minutes, shaking constantly, until golden brown, then grind it to a fine powder in a mortar.

3. Thinly slice the shallots and chop the coriander; mix the lime juice with the fish sauce, sugar and chilli flakes, then stir in the shallots, coriander and 1 teaspoon of the toasted rice powder.

4. Heat the grill or griddle pan until very hot and cook the beef for 4-5 minutes per side so it stays pink inside.

5. Rest for 5 minutes, then cut across the grain into thin slices.

6. Arrange the slices on a platter with the sauce alongside and serve with sticky rice, fresh cucumber and lettuce leaves.

Tip: Legend has it the meat is so good that the tiger cries if it misses out – or that the sauce is so hot it makes even a tiger weep. Toasted rice powder (khao khua) is the secret of Isan cooking; you can make a larger batch, and it keeps for weeks in an airtight jar.