When is ground veal preferred over ground beef? In recipes like this! This stir fry is inspired by Thai flavours, which pair perfectly with the sweet, mild flavour of ground veal. Sometimes I find the strong, meaty flavour of our ground beef can over-power the delicate balance of the sweet, salty and sour flavours that make this style of cooking so special, but our veal is just perfect. So give our ground veal a try in this easy-peasy, perfect-for-springtime, veal of a meal!
Ingredients:
Stir fry:
1 lb ground veal (pro tip – place the sealed package of ground veal in a bowl of water and it will defrost in 30-45 mins)
1lb green beans – stems removed and cut in half
1 large onion – cut in half and sliced thin
2 large cloves of garlic – finely diced
2 tablespoons of Spray Creek homestead lard
20 basil leaves (or you can sub in 1 – 2 tsps of fennel seeds if basil is unavailable)
1 red chili or 1 tablespoon red chili flakes
2 green onions – thinly sliced
Sauce:
⅓ cup soy sauce
⅓ cup water
¼ cup coconut sugar (or brown sugar)
1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 tablespoon lime juice
1 clove garlic
1 small onion
Method:
- Blend all the sauce ingredients in a blender on high until the onion and garlic are completely broken down into one glorious sauce.
- Heat a wok or large pan on medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon of lard. Once the lard is melted add the green beans and chili. Stir fry for 3-4 minutes.
- Add another generous tablespoon of lard to the pan and dump in the ground veal. Break apart the veal with your spatula while stirring, and cook until it starts to brown (about 5 minutes)
- Add the onions and garlic stir fry for 3 – 4 minutes
- Now add the sauce let it reduce for 3 minutes
- Add the basil and cook for another 3 minutes.
- Season with a bit of ground black pepper and remove from heat.
- Serve over rice and garnish with green onion and your favourite hot sauce.
This dish is also great in lettuce wraps, over rice noodles, or just straight out of the pan. The prep and cooking for this dish takes about the same amount of time as a pot of rice so if that isn’t a sign, I just don’t know what is.
Happy feasting my friends.
Spray Creek Ranch 