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Home » Recipes » Asian Fusion Recipes

Asian-Style Sloppy Joes

Published: Sep 19, 2013 Last Updated: Sep 2023 by Lindsay This post may contain affiliate links to products I use and enjoy. 2 Comments

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I created something of a firestorm the other night when I posted a picture of me DOWNING a quesadilla with Asian flavors and sriracha sour cream. 

Now, by firestorm I mean that 3 people or so commented on the photo, but it made me want to hurry and show you the ground beef filling that was in that dang quesadilla (movie?  anyone?  no?). Sloppy joe with toppings

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It was leftover from these Asian-style sloppy joe's.  Sroppy joes, as my husband requested I title this post, but we won't EVEN go there.  Racist. 

The joe's themselves, though, were FANTASTIC.  I'm fine with regular old American sloppy joes, but the flavors in these were like .... lettuce wraps with crunchy toppings and deep spicy flavor soaked up by a squishy bun.  YOU CAN'T MISS WITH THAT SENTENCE.  Here's how I did it:

For the meat, you'll need ground beef (fake beef crumbles would be great here!), soy sauce, sriracha or other hot sauce, hoisin, and oyster sauce.  For the sloppy joe, any buns you like (soft and squishy are my favs), cilantro, lettuce, and green onion.  Ingredients

The hoisin and oyster sauces are wonderful - if you're not familiar with them, they're the two components that pretty much make brown sauce taste BROWN in Chinese and Asian-fusion cooking.  They're readily available, so try one or both of them soon if you haven't used them before!

All we have to do here is cook the meat, broil the buns, and prep the toppings.  You can be eating this meal in 20 minutes.  First, add the meat to a skillet with a drizzle of olive oil over medium-high heat.  If you wanted to use fresh meat instead of some that'd been sitting in the fridge for 4 days I guess that would be fine.  Start beef in skillet

As the meat cooks, break it up with a spoon - I think a law of sloppy joes is that they have to be crumbly, right?  No big pieces of meat. Break up beef as you go

Another important part of sloppy joes (or any ground beef, for that matter), is really browning the meat.  So, break up the meat with a spoon a bit, then let it sit for a minute or two.  Then, stir, break more pieces up, and repeat - that way, when the meat is sitting it'll get nice and brown on the edge touching the pan. Prep to toast buns

While you are letting the meat brown (leave it the heck alone!), broil the buns face up for 2 minutes or so until they're golden. Toasted buns

When the meat is mostly cooked, add the seasonings: sriracha, oyster sauce, and hoisin.  Add first three seasonings to meat

Stir that all together, then grab some water.  I was guzzling because I'd just done yoga, so I just dumped ¼ cup or so into the pan to make a sauce with the seasonings.  PC cup

Fancy, huh?Add water as needed

When the first three seasonings have formed a sauce with the water, taste the meat and add as much soy sauce as you'd like to flavor the meat a bit more.  Add more sriracha if you'd like too!Add soy sauce to taste

Turn down the heat to medium or medium low so the sauce is simmering but not bubbling too much.  If the water all evaporates, add a bit more - we want saucy but not soupy joes.  Make that happen. 

While you let the sauce simmer, just for another 5 minutes or so, prep the green toppings.  Shred some lettuce, tear some cilantro leaves, and thinly slice the green onion on an angle because it's pretty that way. Thinly slice green onions

Also while the sauce simmers, make a bite of meat and random toppings to shut your husband up.  Day in the life, people.  Bite for husband

Now, you could do all this WAY ahead and just eat whenever.  It was 10:30am in these pictures and IT WAS TIME.  To assemble, start with some lettuce piled on the bottom of a bun - that'll help soak up some of the sauce!Start bun with lettuce

Then, heap some meat and other toppings on the lettuce. Green toppings on meat

If you'd like, add even more sriracha to the whole thing - why not, right?Drizzle over extra sriracha

That there is a very sloppy sloppy joe.Extra toppings on Joe You are going to love these, and you very well may find that you'll require about 4 as a meal.  They can of course be made with any ground meat you like - pork would be especially delicious. Joe and Beer

The flavor of the meat with the sharp toppings is WONDERFUL, so don't skimp on the green onion especially.  Big bite of joe

Beer is a must, I think.  Serve with beer.  Or ginger beer if you're not into the booze. Top of bun with beerEnjoy these, friends!  They're DELICIOUS and you'll love them.  The beef mixture itself could be used for ANYTHING, but there's something about a sloppy joe that's just GREAT, isn't there?Sloppy joe with toppings

In other news, it's almost Weekend Potluck - and the weekend!

Recipe

Asian-Style Sloppy Joes

Lindsay Howerton-Hastings
No ratings yet
Print Recipe
Prep Time 5 minutes mins
Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Ingredients
  

  • 1 pound ground beef
  • 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
  • 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
  • 1 teaspoon sriracha plus more to taste
  • 1 teaspoon soy sauce plus more to taste
  • ¼ cup water
  • 1 scallion thinly sliced
  • 1 cup thinly sliced lettuce
  • cilantro leaves optional
  • hamburger or other sandwich buns for serving

Instructions
 

  • Heat a skillet to medium-high heat with the beef. Cook for 5 - 7 minutes, breaking the meat up as it cooks until crumbly and browned. When the meat is mostly cooked, add the hoisin, oyster sauce, and sriracha. Stir to combine, and add the water to form a sauce. Taste the meat, and add soy sauce 1 teaspoon at a time to your taste. Add some more sriracha too, if you'd like. Reduce the heat to medium-low, and let the meat simmer for 5-10 minutes until the water is partially reduced and the meat is cooked through.
  • Meanwhile, broil the buns on the cut side until lightly toasted.
  • To serve, pile some lettuce on the bun bottoms. Top with some of the meat mixture, sliced green onions, and cilantro leaves. Add extra sriracha over the meat if you'd like. Top with a bun top, and enjoy!

Nutrition

Serving: 4g
Tried this recipe?Let me know how it was!

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. 4littlefergusons

    September 20, 2013 at 10:43 am

    OH MY GOODNESS, this sounds amazing! Thanks for sharing at WP!

    Reply
    • funnyloveblog

      September 20, 2013 at 11:14 am

      You'll LOVE them - the sauce is like Chinese brown sauce and the green onions are the BEST topping. Plus - super fast. Enjoy 'em!

      Reply

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Image of Lindsay Howerton-Hastings smiling sitting on dark gray couch wearing chambray blue shirt.

Hi! I'm Lindsay. I'm a maternal mental health therapist, a recipe developer, food writer, and taker of all kinds of pictures. Thank you so much for being here! This blog is about how to take care of yourself and your people without taking anything too seriously.

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