Quick Korean Beef

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 Tbsp sesame oil
• 1 large onion, finely diced
• 2 carrots, finely diced
• 800g lean beef mince
• 3 tsp crushed garlic
• 1 1/2 Tbsp crushed ginger
• 1/3 cup (90ml) low-salt soy sauce
• 3 Tbsp brown sugar — staple
• 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 2 tsp cornflour
• 1 1/2 beef stock cubes — staple
• 3/4 cup (190ml) boiling water
• Cooked white rice, to serve — staple
• 2 spring onions, sliced
• Sriracha, to serve (optional)
• (veg side) 2 heads bok choy, halved lengthways
• (veg side) 1 head broccoli, cut into florets
• (veg side) 2 cloves garlic, sliced

Method

1. Heat the sesame oil in a large frying pan or wok. Add the onion and carrot and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes.
2. Add the mince, breaking it up with a spoon. Cook 8-10 minutes until browned all over.
3. Stir in the garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
4. In a jug, whisk the soy sauce, brown sugar, vinegar and cornflour. Pour over the mince and stir through.
5. Dissolve the stock cube in the boiling water and pour into the pan.
6. Simmer a few minutes until the sauce thickens and coats the mince. Season to taste.
7. Greens: while the sauce thickens, heat a little oil in a second pan. Fry the sliced garlic 20 seconds, add the broccoli florets and 3 Tbsp water, cover and steam 3 minutes. Add the bok choy and toss 2 minutes until just wilted. Season.
8. Serve over fluffy white rice, topped with spring onion and a swirl of sriracha, with the garlic greens alongside.

Notes

- Protein-first portioning: meat set to 800g per 4 serves to land ~45g protein/serve (house rule). - Mince is up 60% on the source, so the sauce (soy, brown sugar, vinegar, cornflour, stock, water) and the onion, carrot, garlic and ginger are all scaled ~1.5x — the sauce is thin and this much mince would soak it up otherwise. - Lean mince keeps it from going greasy; drain any excess fat before adding the sauce if you use standard mince. - Crushed ginger from a jar is fine here; 2cm of fresh grated ginger is the equivalent. - Good with quick-pickled cucumber on the side as well, to cut the sweetness. - Veg/staples sweep: an onion and two carrots only came to ~90g veg/serve, so the house Asian greens side (2 bok choy + 1 broccoli, pan-tossed with garlic) was added as its own step — about +50 cal / +2g protein and ~160g more veg per serve. Sesame oil, onion, crushed garlic, soy sauce, cider vinegar and cornflour lost their "staple" markers and gained search hints.