Everything You Love About a Banh Mi, In a Bowl
A banh mi is a study in contrast: rich meat, sharp pickles, cool herbs, soft bread. Take away the baguette and put it over rice and nothing is really lost — in fact it travels far better in a lunchbox. The quick pickle takes fifteen minutes and is the component that makes the bowl sing, so do not be tempted to skip it.
Ingredients
Serves 4 | Cost: $7.25 per serving | Total: $29.00 | Ready in 25 min
- 500 g (1 lb 2 oz) grass-fed ground beef
- 2 stalks lemongrass, tender core only, finely minced
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 carrots, julienned
- 1 Lebanese cucumber, thinly sliced
- 80 ml (⅓ cup) rice vinegar
- 400 g (2 cups) cooked jasmine rice
- Fresh coriander, mint and Thai basil leaves
- 1 tablespoon neutral oil
Instructions
- Make the quick pickle. Combine the rice vinegar with 1 teaspoon of salt and 2 teaspoons of the brown sugar in a bowl, stirring to dissolve. Add the julienned carrot and sliced cucumber, toss, and leave to pickle for at least 15 minutes.
- Marinate the beef. Mix the ground beef with the minced lemongrass, fish sauce and remaining brown sugar. Work it briefly with your hands and let it stand for 10 minutes while the pickles do their work.
- Sear the beef. Heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat until shimmering. Add the beef and press it flat. Leave it for 3 minutes to caramelise, then break it up and cook for a further 4 minutes until browned and slightly crisp at the edges.
- Warm the rice. Divide the cooked jasmine rice between four bowls. If it has been refrigerated, warm it through with a splash of water so it steams rather than dries out.
- Assemble. Top the rice with the lemongrass beef, then add a generous pile of drained pickles alongside. Finish with a small handful of coriander, mint and Thai basil, and spoon over a little of the pickling liquid.
Nutritional & Dietary Notes
Dairy-Free
There is no milk, cream, butter or cheese in this recipe. Richness comes from the meat, the cooking fat and the aromatics rather than from dairy, which makes it a comfortable choice for anyone who is lactose intolerant or avoiding dairy altogether.
High Protein
Built around a generous serving of premium BC-sourced protein, this dish is designed to support muscle repair, satiety and steady energy through the day. It works particularly well as a post-training meal or as the anchor of a high-protein meal prep rotation.
Featured HOTRO.ca Product
This recipe is built around Grass-Fed Ground Beef from HOTRO.ca. We source premium BC-raised and ethically farmed meats and slow-simmered bone broth, so the quality of the core ingredient does most of the work for you. Substituting a lesser product will change the result more than any other single change you could make to this recipe.
Lemongrass-marinated grass-fed beef over rice with quick-pickled carrot, cucumber and herbs.