Buddha's Delight: Beef Mince and Rice

I think this might be an NB original recipe--

This is a very simple, rustic, basic bitch recipe. But it is also very hearty and satisfying.

It hits all the right spots and will fill your belly. It is some fragrant and delicious off-kilter cooking.

*******

An Aussie bloke was trying to explain to me the concept of a 'beef mince.' While I didn't quite grasp the Aussie recipe, I still tried to recreate what was being described to me. Just as Marco Polo invented spaghetti from whispers of chow mein noodles, so did I invent a 'beef mince' meant to replicate the exotic tales from abroad.

Basically, it's nothing like it should be, but this is my interpretation:

I start with some rice on the boil, with salt and turmeric added of course.

The mince starts with very lean ground beef. No need to drain if you go 90% lean. Season with the usuals, salt, pepper, coriander, etc.

After the meat is browned and minced up, add in diced yellow onion and heaps of finely chopped garlic to sweat it out. Another dash of salt helps to extract moisture on a low-medium heat.

I add in chopped baby bok choy, fresh mung bean sprouts, and a bit of hot chili oil. You can also use cayenne. Continue the sweat/steam on medium-low.

Finally, I add a very healthy amount of finely chopped parsley and generous amounts of soy sauce.

Sweat until deliciously. Make sure that bok choy has a bit of tenderness, and a bit of crunch left. That's when it's done!

Serve the beef mince over a bed of turmeric rice.

It is oddly satisfying for how simple it is! It's the kind of flavor you can taste just by walking into the kitchen.

Enjoy!


p.s. If any Aussies care to try telling me what a beef mince actually is, I'm listening!

a reply to: NarcolepticBuddha

Not an Aussie a Brit but Beef Mince is just what you used, ground beef, the better the quality the better the mince, some recipes you want more fat in the meat others you want less.
Basically just coarse ground beef same as you would use in a burger for example though a bit more coarse than you get over in the US.
www.bbc.co.uk...
Most Aussie recipe's began in England but they have some food's we don't have up this side of the marble so some things are better there and some are better here.

I like the sound of your recipe.

a reply to: NarcolepticBuddha

Besides how delicious your recipe may sound, you debunked the theory Buddha was vegetarian.

a reply to: LABTECH767

Yeahhh! It seems like a beef mince is a pretty open-ended thing.

The way it was described to me was a bit like a shepherd's pie. Obviously I made some substitutions in terms of ingredients and influence.

It's still good though

originally posted by: Trueman
a reply to: NarcolepticBuddha

Besides how delicious your recipe may sound, you debunked the theory Buddha was vegetarian.

As the legend goes, The Buddha died eating some spoiled meat. He was too humble to refuse his host's offerings.

I would add half a tablespoon of oyster sauce and a teaspoon of seseme seed oil when you're browning your meat ,, 😉.

a reply to: NarcolepticBuddha

No ginger? What are you? A maverick?

originally posted by: NarcolepticBuddha
a reply to: LABTECH767

Yeahhh! It seems like a beef mince is a pretty open-ended thing.

It was our staple food in scotland as a kid and when we emigrated to canada I found it funny that people would squeeze the mince into a ball, flatten it, fry it and call it a burger. Mince was always served with plain potatoes for us then if there were leftovers my grandma would improvise... curry powder and raisins served with rice became curry. Adding spaghetti sauce with pasta and parmesan was the other option.

This version in the op sounds excellent.

originally posted by: ManBehindTheMask
I would add half a tablespoon of oyster sauce and a teaspoon of seseme seed oil when you're browning your meat ,, 😉.

Sesame seed oil after it is cooked, not during.

a reply to: JAGStorm

You can cook with sesame oil but there are restrictions to maintaining that flavor and fragrance. Low heat, don’t add early.

originally posted by: TheAlleghenyGentleman
a reply to: JAGStorm

You can cook with sesame oil but there are restrictions to maintaining that flavor and fragrance. Low heat, don’t add early.

I was always taught it was for finishing/condiment, never to "cook" with.

originally posted by: TheAlleghenyGentleman
a reply to: NarcolepticBuddha

No ginger? What are you? A maverick?

I've tried it with ginger. I prefer to skip the ginger on this one.

originally posted by: JAGStorm

originally posted by: TheAlleghenyGentleman
a reply to: JAGStorm

You can cook with sesame oil but there are restrictions to maintaining that flavor and fragrance. Low heat, don’t add early.

I was always taught it was for finishing/condiment, never to "cook" with.

Oh. No.

a reply to: JAGStorm

Toasted sesame oil is more of a finishing oil.

Recipe looks good, reminds me a bit of a beef keema, without the ginger and tomato

I was always told if i wanted to cook with sesame oil to just add a few drops to your normal wok oil (canola, peanut oil)

And if you like sesame seed oil, you might also like Parilla seed oil (or not), its a little less nutty and a bit more grassy. Great in cold noodle salads.

a reply to: NarcolepticBuddha

Sounds like a nice recipe that is fresh and not from a can.

a reply to: LABTECH767

For some reason when I here "mince", I think of a texture thing. Finely shredded beef that where the shreds are chopped short and fine.

a reply to: ketsuko

Yeah and they mistakenly call cookies biscuits so what can ya do

a reply to: NarcolepticBuddha

And we often dip them, Tea for me though coffee for others just enough so that they are starting to go even softer and quickly pop it into your mouth before the cookie falls apart.

Hot tea in my case is sweet with sugar and milk but each to there own, some like there tea bitter with no sugar and no milk probably healthier and more as tea is meant to be served but hey once again everyone to there own.

Also ginger nut's are superb dipped in tea.
www.bbcgoodfood.com...
(I buy mine so cheat there)

As for Cookies, love them when I am in the mood for them and no I don't call them biscuit's though I do think of them in those term's.

At least these days they are not hard tack that some poor sod on board a sailing ship had to bang the weevils out of (though those little blighters did give them much of the protein they needed as well - look how long it took for those folk's to realize they had to have green's on board, you know one voyage to get the then mystical Cloves the sailors died off from scurvy and the cred did not know that if they had just sucked one clove a day from there cargo - which back then was worth more than gold so ??? they would have survived the long trip).

a reply to: LABTECH767

I didn't quite get the difference between American cookies and biscuits until someone from Aus sent me some biscuits. Yes, there is a difference.

The closest thing the USA has to a 'biscuit' is an Oreo.

As for dipping in hot tea...sounds like it ruins the biscuit AND the tea, but to be fair, I've never tried it.