Beef Basil Bowls

I wasn’t quite sure what to call this dish. It has both Thai and Japanese flavors, so I guess it’s a little bit of an Asian fusion.  The Thai components are the lemongrass, fish sauce, lime, mango, and basil. The Japanese specific element is the mirin which is a type of rice wine.  I love mirin and use it in a lot of my cooking.  It is similar to sake, but with a lower alcohol content and higher sugar content that forms naturally during the fermentation process. Because of its high sugar content, it’s the perfect balance to the salty flavor of soy sauce.  A good quality mirin is hard to find at grocery stores. Most of the time you will only find a mirin-like condiment which has “mirin flavorings”, high fructose corn syrup, and preservatives - yuck! A naturally brewed brand of mirin available in the States is called Eden. I order a few of these bottles at a time from Amazon.

I’ve made a few versions of this recipe, and it still tastes great if you don’t have lemongrass on hand. Also, if you don’t want anything that could potentially be spicy, feel free to omit the jalapeño. For toppings, in addition to what I listed below, you could also serve it with grated carrot and sliced green onions. In my opinion, what makes this meal amazing is the diced mango. Don’t skip it!

We eat many of these one-pan dinners with ground beef and diced veggies simmered in a combination of soy sauce & mirin over steamed rice.  My kids love it and don’t complain about eating the vegetables mixed in. If you do all the chopping ahead of time, this could be a quick week night dinner. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• I lb grass-fed ground beef

• Freshly ground black pepper

• 2 shallots, chopped

• 2 inches of ginger, minced

• 4 garlic cloves, minced

• 2 Tbsp lemongrass, thinly sliced (optional)

• 1 red bell pepper, chopped

• 1 jalapeño, chopped (optional)

• 1/3 cup cashews or peanuts

• 1/4 cup soy sauce

• 2 Tbsp mirin

• 1 Tbsp maple syrup

• 2 tsp fish sauce

• 2 packed cups of basil leaves (Thai basil or sweet basil)

• 1 lime, juice of

• 2 cups uncooked jasmine rice, cooked according to package

  Toppings

• 1 mango, diced

• 1/2 English cucumber, sliced

• Fresh basil leaves

• 1 lime, cut into wedges

Instructions:

1. Cook the rice according to the package.

2. In a sauté pan over medium-high heat, cook ground beef breaking it up as it browns. Season with freshly ground black pepper.

3. Add shallots, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, bell pepper and jalapeño. Sauté for about 5 minutes, until the peppers are soft.

4. Add the soy sauce, mirin, maple syrup, fish sauce and mix into the ground beef and vegetables. Simmer for a few minutes.

5. Add cashews or peanuts and the fresh basil. stir to combine.

6. Add freshly squeezed lime juice to taste.

7. Serve the beef over a bed of steamed white jasmine rice. Top with diced mango, cucumber, fresh basil and a lime wedge.