READY IN 1 hr

Vietnamese Beef And Lettuce Curry

Read Reviews (16)

"A delicious mild curry to serve with steamed or boiled rice that's relatively simple to prepare. The use of lettuce in cooked meals is also an interesting novelty for Western tastes used to having it only in salads and buffet dishes." — WOBBLY

Directions

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.

Kitchen-Friendly View

PREP 15 mins
COOK 45 mins
READY IN 1 hr

Reviews More Reviews

Most Helpful Positive Review

Jan 04, 2008

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.

—Holly Berry

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Most Helpful Critical Review

Sep 15, 2005

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.

—COOKING66

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18 Ratings

Dec 20, 2005

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!

—GUAYAQUILHOOK

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Dec 03, 2005

It was a spicy sweet dish that proved worthy of my dinner table.

—filijm2002

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Dec 10, 2007

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.

—tankerraid

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Jun 30, 2008

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.

—xayide

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Jan 28, 2006

With so many great curry recipes out there, this was just average.

—JACKLYNJILL

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Jun 12, 2009

This was good, but best of all, really easy.

—blancdeblanc

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Nutrition

Calories
529 kcal
26%

Carbohydrates
56.9 g
18%

Cholesterol
69 mg
23%

Fat
21 g
32%

Fiber
4 g
16%

Protein
26.3 g
53%

Sodium
1481 mg
59%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Nutritional Information

Vietnamese Beef And Lettuce Curry

Serving Size: 1/4 of a recipe
Servings Per Recipe: 4
Amount Per Serving
** Calories: 529
** Calories from Fat: 189

% Daily Value *
** Total Fat 21g 32 %
** Saturated Fat 6.4g 32 %
** Cholesterol 69mg 23 %
** Sodium 1481mg 59 %
** Potassium 709mg 20 %
** Total Carbohydrates 56.9g 18 %
** Dietary Fiber 4g 16 %
** Protein 26.3g 53 %
** Sugars 10.9g
** Vitamin A 74 %
** Vitamin C 73 %
** Calcium 18 %
** Iron 96 %
** Thiamin 30 %
** Niacin 88 %
** Vitamin B6 30 %
** Magnesium 25 %
** Folate 60 %

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
** Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients. Amount is based on available nutrient data.
(-) Information is not currently available for this nutrient. If you are following a medically restrictive diet, please consult your doctor or registered dietitian before preparing this recipe for personal consumption.