Asian Beef Rice Bowl

Most ground beef gets broken up the second it hits the pan, and that is why most ground beef tastes like nothing. Leave it as one flat slab until the underside browns and it releases on its own. That crust is the dish.

Why You'll Love This Asian Beef Rice Bowl

The pan goes on dry, which is the part everyone fights. An 85/15 grind and nothing leaner brings all the fat this dish needs, and what you pour off is what fries the eggs at the end. Soy and sugar reduce to a glaze over the crust you have already built.

Tips and Tricks

• Season the top face only, once the beef is in the pan. Salt on the face touching the metal draws water out exactly where you need it dry.
• Use toasted sesame oil, the dark bottle. Take the pan off the heat and wait for the bubbling to stop before it goes in. Cast iron holds heat long after the burner is off, and the toasted smell is the first thing to go.
• Glaze first, then the eggs. The glaze is over in under a minute, and burnt sugar is the one thing here you cannot walk back.
• The rice goes in hot. If yours has been in the fridge, steam it or microwave it with a splash of water until it is hot through.

Variations

• Ground pork works straight across. Ground chicken thigh gives up less fat, so start it with a teaspoon of neutral oil and give the eggs a pan and a spoon of oil of their own.
• A spoonful of kimchi and its juice stirred into the rice.
• Whisk gochujang into the soy with a splash of water first, and take the pan off the heat before it goes in. It carries sugar and starch, so it thickens and catches faster than soy on its own.

Substitutions

• Soy sauce: tamari for a gluten-free bowl.
• Cooked rice: short-grain, jasmine, or farro all work.
• Green onions: thinly sliced shallot or chives.

Best served with

• Quick cucumber pickle in rice vinegar.
• Steamed broccolini with a squeeze of lemon.

How to Store Leftovers

Store the parts separately. In one container the glaze wets the rice and the crisp edges go soft, and the egg is better fried fresh anyway. The glazed beef keeps in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat it in a hot skillet so the edges crisp again.

Common Questions

Asian Beef Rice Bowl

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Ground beef glazed with soy and sesame, served over warm rice with green onions, sesame seeds, and a runny fried egg.

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Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 12 minutes mins

Total Time 17 minutes mins

Servings: 2

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: American, Asian

Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients

  

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• 1 lb ground beef 85/15, nothing leaner
• kosher salt
• black pepper
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil off the heat, into the glaze
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil over the finished bowls
• 3 cups cooked rice warm
• 4 green onions
• 2 tsp sesame seeds
• 2 eggs
• sriracha or gochujang to taste

Equipment

• 12-inch cast iron skillet
• Small pan (for the eggs)

Method

 

1. The rice is cooked before any of this starts. Three cups, warm. Set the 12-inch cast iron over medium-high and let it preheat dry. No oil. It is ready when a flick of water skitters across the surface and vanishes rather than sitting and hissing.
2. All the beef in as one mass, pressed into a single flat layer that reaches the edges of the pan floor, about half an inch deep. Season the top with salt and pepper, lightly. The soy brings more salt later, and the salt goes on the surface only, never mixed into the meat.
3. Leave it alone until the underside is browned and the slab releases from the pan when you push it. Moving it early steams the meat instead of browning it. If it will not budge, it is not ready.
4. Break it up, spread it back into a single layer, and cook until the edges are crisp and the pan has gone from wet to slick. Eight to twelve minutes from the beef hitting the pan, but go by the crisp edges and the slick pan, not the clock.
5. Tip the rendered fat into the small pan, leaving about a tablespoon in the skillet. The fat comes off before the soy goes in, or the glaze slides off the meat and pools in the pan.
6. Soy sauce and sugar into the skillet. Toss until the wet sizzle turns dry and quiet, then tilt the pan. Off the heat while the glaze still runs. Wait for the bubbling to stop, then 1 teaspoon of the sesame oil. It is a finishing oil and it turns bitter when it scorches.
7. Set the small pan over medium. Beef fat stiffens the moment it hits a cold pan, and an egg cracked into stiff fat spreads instead of setting. Wait for the beef fat to shimmer, then crack the eggs in. Sunny side up, whites set, yolks still runny.
8. Build both bowls. Warm rice first, then the glazed beef, green onions, sesame seeds, and an egg on each. The last teaspoon of sesame oil over the bowls. Sriracha or gochujang at the table.

Notes

Use 85/15 ground beef, nothing leaner. The pan goes on dry and the eggs fry in the fat the beef renders.

For seasoning, I always use Diamond Crystal kosher salt. If you use Morton, use half.

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