Recipe video above. This is a thrifty yet excellent dinner for all those times you need to scratch your Spicy Asian Food itch, fast! Seared beef mince gets tossed through a fiery Firecracker Sauce, tastes a bit like a spicy beef version of the much-loved Vietnamese Caramelised Pork Mince. Sweetness & spice level - Fairly spicy! See notes to reduce. Firecracker sauce is supposed to be a bit sweet to offset spice, also see notes.
Prep Time3 minutesmins
Cook Time10 minutesmins
Course: Main
Cuisine: Asian
Keyword: beef mince recipe, spicy beef
Servings: 4
Calories: 326cal
Author: Nagi
Ingredients
1½tbspoil(vegetable, canola, peanut)
500g / 1 lbbeef mince / ground beef(Note 1)
2garlic cloves, finely minced
1tspchilli flakes / red pepper flakes(adjust to your taste)
Diced cucumber, julienned carrot, finely sliced red radish
Extra sriracha sauce, if you dare!
Instructions
Sauce: Mix Firecracker sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
Cook beef: Heat oil in a large frypan over high heat. Add beef and cook, breaking it up as you go, until you can no longer see raw meat (2½ minutes). Add garlic and chilli flakes and cook for 1 minute.
Caramelise beef: Add Firecracker sauce ingredients, stir to coat the beef. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring only every minute or so initially, then more towards the end, until the sauce reduces and you can see the beef caramelising. Caramelise well for good flavour!
Water: Add the water and cook for 1 minute (the water makes the beef saucier!)
Serve over rice, sprinkled with sesame seeds, green onion and a squirt of extra sriracha if you're feeling brave! Add a pile of vegetables of choice on the side. Dive in!
Notes
Spiciness - Fairly spicy but not blow-your-head-off levels. Reduce spiciness firstly by reducing or omitting the chilli flakes. Then reduce the sriracha, if need be. Try not to reduce sriracha because it's a key flavouring.Sweetness - I use minimum sugar to be able to get good beef caramelisation and balance the spiciness/tang of siracha. If you reduce the sugar the spice comes through a quite a bit more and is not the typical Firecracker sauce flavour, albeit still very tasty!1. Other proteins - This recipe will work well with pork, chicken and turkey mince. Crumbled tofu - reduce sugar by 1 tbsp.2. Soy sauce - Use light or all-purpose soy. Don't use dark soy sauce, the flavour will be too intense. More on different types of soy sauce here.3. Rice vinegar - Substitute with apple cider vinegar.4. Sriracha - A Thai chilli sauce found everywhere these days. Adds more than just spiciness, it adds flavour too as it's flavoured with garlic, vinegar, sugar and salt.5. Storage - Leftover cooked beef will keep for 3 to 4 days in the fridge, or freezer for 3 months. When reheating, add a splash of water to juice it up!6. Nutrition per serving, beef only (ie not rice or vegetables).