A delectable mild curry that is rather easy to make, perfect with steamed or boiling rice. For Western palates used to eating lettuce only in salads and buffet dishes, the usage of lettuce in cooked meals is also an intriguing novelty.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 45 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr |
| Servings: | 4 |
| Yield: | 4 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 cup uncooked long grain white rice
- 2 cups water
- 5 teaspoons white sugar
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- ¼ cup fish sauce
- 5 tablespoons water
- 1 ½ tablespoons chile sauce
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 (28 ounce) can canned diced tomatoes
- 2 cups lettuce leaves, torn into 1/2 inch wide strips
Instructions
- In a pot, bring the rice and water to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 25 minutes.
- In a bowl, mash together the sugar and 1 clove garlic with a pestle. Mix in the fish sauce, water, chile sauce, and lemon juice.
- Heat the oil in a wok over high heat, and quickly saute the 3 cloves garlic. Mix the beef into the wok, season with cumin, and cook until evenly brown. Pour in the tomatoes and about 1/2 the fish sauce mixture. Reduce heat to low, and simmer 20 minutes, until thickened.
- Toss the lettuce into the beef mixture. Serve at once over the cooked rice with the remaining fish sauce mixture on the side.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 529 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 57 g |
| Cholesterol | 69 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 4 g |
| Protein | 26 g |
| Saturated Fat | 6 g |
| Sodium | 1481 mg |
| Sugars | 11 g |
| Fat | 21 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I’m on a low salt diet so I used fresh tomatoes instead of canned. Served this over basmati with lime & cilantro and it was delicious. I added a tablespoon of plain yogurt to the pan to give it a creamier texture.
So, I thought this sounded good and i wanted to try something new. This dish is incredibly bland. I love taco rice! It reminds me of a very bland version of that. The seasonings just don’t cut it. It needs a lot more flavor! perfect for a family that likes little to no heat (spice).
I tried it with cumin and it is fine, but I don’t find the flavors to be meshing all that well.
Taste great! Used unsalted canned tomatoes so added a pinch of salt and pepper while letting it simmer. I also made it with pork tenderloin instead of beef. Other than that followed it right down to the ingredients and directions. Definitely recommend to others!
Here are the changes I made: 5 cloves garlic divided 1 tsp. Sugar 1 Tbsp. Maple Syrup not quite 1/4 c. fish sauce 1 tsp. Samal Oelec ground fresh chili paste watered down slightly 1/4 c. lime juice olive oil 1 lb. ground beef 2 tsp. curry powder 2 tsp. cumin (yes, that’s what I said. Oh, and add the spices until you can smell them. That may be more than 2 tsp each) I put about 2 1/2 c. canned diced tomatoes at least 2 cups torn lettuce (I used a left over salad, tomatoes, shredded carrots and peppers too) 1 tsp. ginger, grated 1 tbsp cilantro (adds color and a flavor punch) 1/2 tsp. dried pepper flakes 1 tsp. cornstarch disolved in 1/4 cup water Cook as stated above. Serve over plenty of white rice. Happy family!!! 🙂
This is an odd recipe. With adjustments of different spices it can taste good. I used curry powder and ground cilantro, and it was all eaten up.
The fish sauce is key. Try to get the least salty variety you can. Instead of ground beef, I use a roast which is sliced into thin pieces and strips. Use sesame oil instead of vegetable. I serve it on a sheet of roasted nori (seaweed), with egg noodles instead of rice. Garnish with sesame seeds and sriratcha sauce and BOOM! Best dinner (and leftovers) ever.
I was excited to try this, but I do not think I will make it again. I made it as the recipe called for (except I used my rice cooker to make the rice) – I didn’t think the cumin was a typo, since a “curry” doesn’t necessarily mean it contains curry powder, just a mix of spices and flavors. It did not taste like taco meat to me, it tasted vaguely vietnamese, thanks in large part to the fish sauce. It was defijnitely ‘interesting.’ And my husband said it was good and cleaned his plate. But none of the rest of us were crazy about it.
A great, easy meal that was not the same old thing. I feel like I’m always trying to find new ways to stuff ground beef into my family without it being boring. I did substitute with cube steak (I was out of ground beef), and I replaced the lettuce with chopped spinach to pack a little more nutrition. Awesome dish!
This was good, but best of all, really easy.
We were very pleased with this dish. I substituted curry for the cumin, used Rotel tomatoes and, after tasting, I added about a tbl more sugar. My family loved it and asked me to make it again soon. I served it with rice.
Definitely not Vietamese, but pretty good anways, and a good use of a pound of meat and a head of lettuce. I used curry powder instead of cumin, as suggested by other reviewers. I almost omitted the lemon, and I’m glad I didn’t. Fish sauce’s flavor needs to be covered up by any combination of foods available in my opinion, and the fish sauce mixture turned out to be surprisingly tangy, sweet, and complex.
Wouldn’t consider this “Curry” by any means…more like a taco salad as some reviews have quoted, but boy does it taste much better than regular taco seasoning!
I used chow mein noodles instead of rice, ¼ cup canned diced tomato/chile and a mixture inspired by these 3 recipes: Basic Curry Sauce, Chinese Style Sesame Sauce & Teriyaki Sauce and Marinade. I used peanut oil, ginger, garlic, turmeric, curry powder, chile sauce, cilantro, white sugar, cornstarch, rice vinegar, soy sauce, peanut sauce, lemon juice and water. Just keep tasting and adding stuff until you like it. Lots of cornstarch added a bit at a time helps thicken the sauce without affecting taste. While I had the sauce going, I cooked the ground beef in a separate pan then drained it and added to the sauce and continued simmering. Ground beef grease is nasty so I wasn’t about to cook the raw beef in the sauce. I let the food cool for a minute to thicken, added romaine lettuce and sprinkled on sesame seeds for texture. Overall, this recipe was good. The cooking times are correct to get good results. I used chow mein noodles because I’m tired of rice and they take literally 1 minute to cook. I tried this recipe because I needed to use up my ground beef, but something like this should be made with thinly sliced steak or pork.
I don’t know how Vietnamese this really is, but it was tasty nonetheless. Would add some vegetables next time around. But with the fish sauce, a Thai sweet chili sauce, and some Sriracha (for punch), this was quite good.
This recipe is bland. There is nothing Vietnamese or curry about it. It tastes like goulash with lettuce (!?). Even the dog did not like it. This recipe is an insult to my Vietnamese heritage.
With so many great curry recipes out there, this was just average.
This was great! I used my favorite curry blend, 1/2 the tomatoes, and a little extra lettuce. Oh, and no chile sauce, since I didn’t have any. The garlic gave it a slight bite. My husband and kids, who like slightly ethnic foods, loved this over jasmine rice!
It was a spicy sweet dish that proved worthy of my dinner table.
The cumin must be a type-o as previously mentioned. I used cumin and it tastes more like taco salad. Might try it with curry powder next time. The kids still liked it.
I liked the lettuce, but something seemed missing from this recipe. The sauce wasn’t too bad, certain’y use the full amount. I say perhaps half the tomatos and add some other veggies and it would be improved perhaps.