For my birthday, I am giving you a taste of my favourite cuisine, which is East Asian and South East Asian flavours. Anything that contains ginger, chili and soy sauce, wets my appetite and this Asian mince meat brings them all together.
This Asian mince meat version is easy to make a big batch of and can be used for so many different dishes to heighten their flavour.
This recipe is versatile and delicious of course. It is a perfect recipe to throw into a Ramen, to add to a salad or to your spring rolls.
Easy to put together and getting dinner on the table in no time, I return to this dish often. You might not have all the ingredients at home, but once you buy them, they last for long and you can return to this recipe often.
Where I use my Asian mince meat
Ramen
My best tips when adding any mince to your Ramen is to fry it extra crispy. This will help when you add it on top of your wet Ramen broth to keep the texture.
Salad
Add the mince to a large lettuce leaf, with vegetables and a few chopped nuts and you have a wonderful salad. It is so good to eat it this way. Just like with the Ramen version, fry the mince hard to get the texture of the caramelized mince meat.
Spring rolls
If you plan to use this mince meat next time you are creating spring rolls, I would give it a try. You don’t even need to fry the mince before. Simply take your mince and the ingredients for the sauce, mix together. Add bean sprouts, cut bamboo shoots and julienned carrots to make a delicious filling to spring rolls. The mince will cook with the rest of the ingredients when your fry or deep fry your spring rolls. Make sure to cook the spring rolls long enough to cook the mince properly.
Bao buns
This fluffy steamed bun is perfect as an encasement for the mince meat. My local Asian store sells frozen bao buns, which is perfect to take out as many as you need. Fry the mince meat, fill your buns with the meat and add my go to spicy cucumber salad from Melanie Cooks for a quick dinner. Or why not try my Asian style mince buns, using my flatbread dough for a quick version.
Substitutes
Although it says beef mince in the recipe, I have tried this with both Turkey thigh and vegetarian mince and it turns out just as good. You can experiment with the mince that you prefer to eat and I am sure it will taste just as good.
Freezer Friendly
This dish freezes very well. Put in an airtight container and you can keep it in the freezer for up to three months. When you need the mince, defrost in the fridge over night or take it straight from the freezer to the frying pan. It will take a bit longer to thaw than if you let it defrost in the fridge over night.
Variations
I have several versions of mince meat, flavoured differently to make sure you always put an easy dish on the table without having to resort to the same old recipe. Why not try a classic taco meat using my own taco seasoning.
Another version you can do with this recipe is to make it in to Asian hamburgers, I have an easy recipe to cook hamburgers in the oven. Perfect when you need to cook lots of them at once. Add the sauce to the mince meat, mix it all together and make hamburger patties from them. Serve with rice or traditional in a hamburger bun, or why not serve them in a bao bun.
Asian mince meat
Ingredients
- 400 grams mince meat Beef or turkey
- ½ tbsp sesame oil + extra to fry in
- 2 tbsp hoisin sauce
- ½ tbsp Siracha
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 clove of garlic minced
- 1 tsp fresh ginger minced
Instructions
- Mince the garlic and fresh ginger.
- Mix all ingredients for the Asian sauce and add into mince, before pan frying it.
- Put some sesame oil in the frying pan and cook the mince mixture for 10 minutes for the mince to cook through and the sugar from the ingredients starting to caramelize.
- Serve with noodles and cooked vegetables or in a miso ramen.