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Lemongrass Beef Banh Mi Bowls

Aromatic beef and rice with Vietnamese flavors sprinkled with pickled vegetables and topped with a spicy sauce.
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Servings 12

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

Notes

Substitute any ground meat. Chicken, turkey, and pork all will work well. 
Substitute any light vinegar you have. I used rice wine vinegar this time. White wine, red wine, champagne, or white vinegar are all fine choices. 
Substitute any sugar, Honey, brown sugar, white sugar, monk sugar, agave, etc. 
You can skip the cup of water when cooking the beef if you want to go faster but I think it helps meld the fish sauce with the sugar and other flavors together. 
Add a little bit of water to your spicy sauce if you like a thinner sauce that you can drizzle. 
Add any veggies you like for garnish. Scallions and radishes go very well.