This is ginger beef stir fry with a big nod to Vietnamese cooking. Big, bold tastes meet sizzling beef in a spicy flavour explosion that’s sure to put a big grin on your face. It put a big grin on my face the first time I tried it.

Ginger beef stir fry is usually more of a Chinese dish. Soy, cornstarch. Orange zest sometimes. Definitely Chinese. And it’s a pretty good dish. No reason not to stick with your favourite.

Unless you want something different. Mix it up. Go for big tastes. Then this might be for you. It’s big on southeast Asian flavours. Totally different.

Vietnamese style ginger beef stir fry

This is not like Chinese ginger beef stir fry at all. The flavours are pure Vietnamese. Lemongrass. Shallots. Red chilies. Fish sauce.

Definitely Vietnamese. Except it isn’t. I don’t think this is actually a Vietnamese dish. At least I can’t find it. And I’ve l’ve looked. But that’s OK. You wouldn’t know if I hadn’t told you. It could be on a menu somewhere. Probably should be.

Vietnamese sate sauce makes this special

This ginger beef stir fry adds a spicy Vietnamese twist. - 1

This is what happens when you take a classic ginger beef stir fry dish and slam it with some Vietnamese sate sauce. Ho-hum goes to wow! Just like that.

If you’ve already made Vietnamese sate sauce then it’s easy. Stir fry some beef. Follow it up with a bit of green onion and julienned ginger.

Some soy. Bit of sesame oil. Fish sauce. And a good dollop of the sate sauce. Stir it up, garnish and get ready to impress yourself.

Close up of Vietnamese sate sauce in a white bowl. - 2 Close up of Vietnamese sate sauce in a white bowl. - 3 ginger beef stir fry in a white bowl close up - 4

vietnamese ginger beef stir fry

Ingredients

  • 12 oz beef - thinly sliced. See note.
  • 6 green onions - two inch pieces
  • 2 tbsp ginger - julienned
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp fish sauce
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • 3 tbsp vegetable oil - more or less
  • 1 tbsp vietnamese sate sauce - link to recipe in instructions
  • 1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
  • cilantro, red chili and sesame seeds - to garnish

Instructions

  • Prep your ingredients. Combine the soy, fish sauce and sesame oil in a small bowl. Mix the beef with the black pepper. Julienne the ginger. Cut up the green onion.
  • Pre-heat your wok or skillet over medium high heat. Add 1 Tbsp vegetable oil. Stir fry 6 ounces of beef. Remove the beef from the pan and add the second Tbsp vegetable oil. Stir fry the remaining beef. Remove the beef from the pan.
  • Add a bit more oil if needed (you don’t need a lot at this point) and add the green onions. Stir fry the onions for 20-30 seconds. Now add the ginger and stir fry for another 20-30 seconds.
  • Return the beef to the pan and add the soy, fish sauce, sesame oil and vietnamese sate sauce .
  • Stir to combine. Cook until the beef is warmed through.
  • Garnish with sesame seeds, minced cilantro and red chili (very optional). Serve with jasmine rice or stir fried rice noodles.

Notes

Nutrition

Never buy curry powder again. Homemade curry powder is easy, cheap and guaranteed fresh every time. And you can customize it if you want to. More chili? Sure. A bit of cardamom? Why not. Hint of cinnamon? It’s up to you.

My favourite is Bolst’s mild curry powder. I like it. Balanced flavours. Just tasty all around curry powder. They’ve been around since the 1930s so they must have a following.

With one problem. I can’t buy it anymore. Nobody has it in town. Looked it up on-line. With shipping – $25. Twenty-five bucks. For about two bucks of spice. Can’t see doing that. Not even for Bolst’s.

Anyone can make homemade curry powder

Homemade curry powder costs pennies to make and it's better than you can buy. - 5

So I reverse engineered it. Had the list of ingredients and a clue. Chilies are 6% of the mix. Ingredients are presented in order – highest to lowest. Wasn’t that hard. Tinkered with it a bit and came up with this.

Indians will tell you they don’t use curry powder. I’ve never understood that. They say they use masalas. Go to any Indian grocery and you will see boxes and boxes of masalas.

Masalas are mixes of spices all ready to go. Curry powder is a mix of spices all ready to go. Confusing.

I think the real difference is more philosophic. Curry powder is one size fits all. Masalas are custom to the dish. Tandoori masala. Chaat masala. Chana masala. It does make sense.

So many uses

When I’m cooking Indian I don’t tend to use this curry powder much either. Certainly it’s never front and centre. That would make everything taste the same. But it is useful to have around. Lot’s of non-traditional Indian uses for it.

Homemade curry powder is great in soups like curried carrot . Or in Moroccan chicken with chickpeas . Or when you want to whip up a quick chicken curry.

Just a great all around spice mix to add to your arsenal. Don’t waste money on pre-fab curry powder. Homemade curry powder. It’s easy. It’s cheap. And it’s delicious.

The recipe on the jar isn’t photoshop BTW. My wife got a Cricut crafting gizmo for Christmas. That’s my actual curry powder jar. I won’t be forgetting the recipe any time soon…

Homemade curry powder in a mason jar with the recipe on the jar. - 6

homemade curry powder

Ingredients

  • 85 grams coriander powder
  • 75 grams turmeric powder
  • 30 grams brown mustard seeds - whole
  • 12 grams kashmiri chili powder
  • 6 grams ginger powder
  • 6 grams cumin seed - whole
  • 6 grams fenugreek seed - whole

Instructions

  • Grind the mustard seed, cumin seed and fenugreek seed to a fine powder. A coffee grinder works well.
  • Combine the ground seed mixture with the remaining spices in a bowl and mix thoroughly to combine.
  • Store in a mason jar for up to a month.

Notes

Nutrition