It feels kind of silly to me calling something a lemongrass beef banh mi bowl considering a banh mi is a Vietnamese sandwich and this is not a sandwich. I guess it’s along the same lines as a burrito bowl though. We know it’s not an actual banh mi or burrito, we’re just using the same flavors in a rice bowl instead. I still don’t like calling it that but whatever, that’s what we’re doing! Lemongrass ground beef bowl just doesn’t have the same ring. So here you go, here’s my sandwich bowl. I know I’m being weird and over analyzing this.
My favorite thing about a banh mi is the attack of flavor on all sides. I always think of the book Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat which I have not read yet because I’ve been on a long wait list at the library, but I get the principle. These beef banh mi bowls are loaded with aromatic salty, sweet meat, fluffy rice, crunchy veggies, and a spicy sauce. Sound good? It does to me. I crave different textures too, so I love the crunch of the raw vegetables against the fluffy rice and bits of meat.
Lemongrass Banh Mi Bowl Ingredients
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I love cooking Asian food if you couldn’t tell. There is nothing “authentic” about this recipe that I’m aware of but it uses some typical Vietnamese ingredients. I have a plethora of lemongrass I grew this year. I normally just use it in tea but it’s time to start cooking with it. It’s a really tasty and often overlooked aromatic. Sometimes I just stick my face in my plants to smell it. Fresh is great but if you can’t find it there is usually some sort of jarred version in the Asian section at the grocery store. Even better, if you can find a tube of paste in the produce section that works very well for this recipe. Lemongrass has tough parts, so you’ll just want to use the inner tender parts of the stalk. Unfortunately mine has gotten tough and woody, which is fine for tea but not so great to eat.
If you can’t find anything, get yourself over to Umamicart and order some ($10 off your first order with my link.) They have fresh bundles and jars of paste. Not to mention everything else you could possibly need for Asian food.
This is a fairly easy meal to whip up with a little prep. The ground beef is cooked with fish sauce and a few other ingredients, which means no pre marinating. The spicy sauce is also fast. You might even have some siracha mayo in your fridge already. You can use my pickle brine recipe in this post if you want to do it ahead of time, or the even quicker way below. Both will work just fine. I like my pickles a little sweeter for these bowls.
This is also a good opportunity to meal prep a little bit and make extra rice. Then you can make fried rice later in the week. I always randomly crave fried rice and I get annoyed because it just isn’t as good if you don’t use day old rice. That means you have to think about it ahead of time. So I’m here to tell you that you should do that. I just made some with Thanksgiving leftovers veggies. You could try my Kimchi, Bacon, and Egg Fried Rice. I almost always make brown rice these days but decided to go for white Jasmine rice this time. Brown rice is the healthier option but white rice once in a while is not going to kill me.
This time I used cucumbers and carrots for the pickled veggies. I really wanted to include daikon radish to make this like a real banh mi but I didn’t want to go out for one ingredient. Also I normally do little matchstick cuts of the veggies but I didn’t have time for that. I really need a fancy mandoline which is perfect for this sort of thing. It’s definitely worth spending a little money to make life easier. I’m putting one on my Christmas list.
Other garnishes include hot peppers like bird chili, jalapeno, or serrano. I think cilantro is a must, but I suppose it is always optional for the unlucky souls who only taste soap. I keep the peppers on the side because everyone has a different heat tolerance in my house. My kids can handle spicy food but my dad is not a fan and he’s staying with us for a while. I go heavy on the hot peppers myself. These bowls are easy to cater to different people.
Cooking Notes
Cook your rice according to the package directions, or in a rice cooker if you have one. I do not own one, but I use my pressure cooker a lot. I really like the texture of the rice when I use it. It’s much lighter than on the stove, and no mush. If you want to make this a one pot meal, cook your rice first, and then set aside in a large bowl so you can cook your meat. Everything else just gets assembled in your bowls.
If you want to skip the fish sauce, use soy sauce instead. The fish sauce is delicious though. If you haven’t ever cooked with fish sauce before, don’t be intimidated. It smells a little fishy out of the bottle but it doesn’t once it’s in the food and everything melds. I promise!
You can also easily substitute the beef with ground chicken, turkey, or pork. A meatloaf mix works very well too.
You can substitute any kind of sugar you want. I rarely use regular white sugar but I felt like it today. Honey, brown sugar, monk fruit, or agave all work fine for the pickles and the beef.
Lastly, I am cooking for an army because we’re a family of 5 right now and I love leftovers. You can easily cut this recipe into 1/3 for normal portions.
Read below for the full recipe and I hope you enjoy!
Lemongrass Beef Banh Mi Bowls
Equipment
- 1 Large deep skillet or wok
- 1 Pot or rice cooker
Ingredients
For meat and rice
- 3 cups uncooked Jasmine rice
- 3 lbs lean ground beef
- 2 tbsp avocado oil or other cooking oil
- 1 med onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp lemongrass, finely minced, or paste
- 5 tbsp fish sauce
- 5 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 cup water
For the pickled vegetables
- 5 carrots, peeled and sliced
- 1 seedless cucumber, sliced
- 2 tbsp vinegar
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 pinch salt
For the spicy mayo
- 1 cup avocado or olive oil mayonnaise
- 1 tsp sriracha sauce
- 1 clove garlic, finely minced
- cilantro for garnish
Instructions
For the vegetables
- Place carrots and cucumbers in a large jar, container, or bowl.
- Pour vinegar over the vegetables and sprinkle with sugar, and a pinch or two of salt.
- Stir to combine or shake well in the jar or container. Set aside until ready to serve. Give them a shake or stir every so often in between cooking the rest of the food.
For the meat and rice
- Cook rice according to package instructions or in a rice cooker.
- While the rice is cooking, heat a large skillet or wok to medium-high heat. Add cooking oil.
- Add chopped onions and cook for a few minutes until translucent. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
- Add ground beef and cook until browned, stirring frequently.
- Add lemongrass, fish sauce, brown sugar, and the cup of water. Cook stirring often until most of the water has evaporated, around 10 minutes.
- Check the beef for seasoning level and add any salt and pepper if needed.
For the spicy sauce
- Combine mayo, garlic, and sriracha in a small bowl and stir until well combined. Add more sriracha if needed going by your tastes.
To serve
- Serve ground beef over rice in a bowl.
- Top with pickled veggies and a drizzle or dollap of spicy mayo.
- Garnish with fresh hot pepper slices and fresh cilantro
