Ingredients:
– 1 Pack of Green Beans
– 500g Broccoli
– 1 Bell Pepper
– 1 Clove of Garlic
– 150g of Rice
– 300ml of Water
– 500g of Beef Mince
– Soy Sauce
– Brown Sugar
– Salt and Pepper
Tools:
– Knife
– Chopping Board
– Measuring Cups or Scales
– Silicone Spatula
– Frying pan (suitable for stir frying)
– 2 Small Sauce Pans (one for making the sauce and one for cooking the rice)
If you’ll remember we here at Off the Record recently tried a HelloFresh Box or two, which you can check out here and here respectively. I found all of the recipes to be delicious, but one stood out to me – the Ginger Beef Noodles. It had an ingredient that I had never used or even heard of before, which was so easy to prep and throw together, so I decided to do some research and experimentation.
So the ingredient in question was Kecap Manis, which is not something traditionally used here in the UK, but it’s a type of sweet soy sauce, originating from Indonesia. It’s much thicker and sweeter but still has the same depth of flavour as soy. I‘m honestly so surprised that I had never heard of kecap before now, as it’s used in some of my favourite styled meals and falls into the exact flavour profile I adore.
I first began trying to recreate the HelloFresh box recipe by finding kecap but it’s not available in most super markets so I instead looked into making it myself!
Next, I started looking into how to improve the flavours of the recipes as myself and Tom didn’t really vibe with the strong citrus flavours in the original. We’ve experimented and customised the recipe and it’s become one of my favourite comfort meals. Below is my recipe and I’ll include some of my favourite additions and tweaks!
Preparation:
- Prep the veg:
Cut the top and bottom off of your green beans
If you’re using fresh broccoli trim the stalks and the bushes down to manageable chunks (I personally use frozen broccoli and cook them in the same pan as I cook the rice)
If you’re adding bell peppers, cut them into strips.
- Make the sauce:
Add a ½ cup of both soy sauce and brown sugar into a saucepan on medium heat.
Keep watching it and stirring it until it has started to boil and thicken. Remove it from the heat and let it thicken more as you prep the other stuff. - Begin cooking the rice:
Add 300ml of water to a pan. Stir in 150g of rice and cover.
Bring the water to a boil on high heat and then turn the heat to low.
Leave it for 10 minutes before removing it from the heat entirely and leaving it, still covered, until ready to serve. - Cook the Beef:
While the rice is boiling, add a little bit of oil to the frying pan and start cooking the beef, adding a sprinkle of salt and pepper to the meat.
Once it’s fully cooked, set the mince aside in a bowl (I prefer to put it into a bowl I’ll be using to serve as it saves on clean up). - Mix Together:
Add the veg into the same frying pan and cook through.
Add your garlic and ginger and sauce to the pan and stir fry.
Add the mince back into the pan and stir to coat through and make sure everything is cooked and warmed through. - Serve up the rice and top with the mince and enjoy!
First Published on: https://offtherecordblog.org/
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