One of Australia’s best known Vietnamese chefs grew up eating and cooking this dish, and it’s all about letting the ingredients do the talking. Fragrant lemongrass and capsicum come together with tender beef on a bed of Basmati rice. This is classic southern Vietnamese street food – done in your kitchen!
Always refer to the product label for the most accurate ingredient and allergen information.
/ Serving 2 people
To prepare the ingredients, rinse the Basmati rice well. Trim the green beans, chop the red capsicum into chunks, peel and finely chop the garlic and lemongrass. Finely slice the long red chilli and spring onions.
Place the Basmati rice and the water in a medium saucepan and bring to the boil over a high heat. Reduce to a medium heat and simmer, uncovered, for 8-10 minutes, or until the rice is soft. Drain and set aside, covered.
Meanwhile, toss the beef strips and plain flour in a medium bowl until the beef strips are coated. Season with salt and pepper.
Heat half the olive oil in a medium frying pan on a high heat. Place the strips into the pan and brown them off for 2 minutes, or until cooked through. Remove from the pan and set aside on a plate. In the same frying pan, heat the remaining olive oil over a medium heat and add the green beans and red capsicum, stirring them constantly for 5 minutes, or until softened. Add the garlic, finely chopped lemongrass (to taste), long red chilli and the whites of the spring onion, and cook for a further 2 minutes, or until fragrant and combined.
Add the beef strips back to the pan with the vegetables and pour in the salt-reduced soy sauce, white wine vinegar and a dash of water over the beef mixture and toss everything together in a pan for 2 minutes, or until combined.
To serve, divide the Basmati rice between plates. Top with the beef and vegetables and sprinkle over the chopped green spring onion. Enjoy!