Ground beef rice is an easy one-pot meal that can be ready in thirty minutes. This Cantonese-style ground beef rice is called 窝蛋牛肉饭, which is served in nearly every cafe in Hong Kong.

Cantonese ground beef rice is a delicious, no-frilled, complete meal that the entire family will love. It is basically rice with ground beef and a sunny-side-up egg. It is ideal as a take-out lunch box for school children and a packed lunch for office workers. It was born from the need for a simple yet delicious meal for busy city folks.

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👉 How to prepare ground beef rice, Hong Kong style

Here is the detailed cooking process of the Cantonese-style ground beef rice with egg.

1. Mix the ground beef with oil, white pepper, and salt. Marinate for 15 minutes.

2. Defrost the frozen green peas or frozen mixed beans. Prepare the cornstarch slurry and set it aside. Dice the onion and coarsely chop the garlic. Combine all the seasoning ingredients in a small bowl to form the sauce for the beef. 

3. Saute the onion in a pan or a large skillet with oil until it is soft and slightly caramelized. Add the coarsely chopped garlic halfway through sautéing the onion.

4. Add the beef to the pan and stir-fry over medium heat. Keep stirring the ground beef to break it up. Keep frying until it is just cooked.

5. Mix the light and dark soy sauce and the oyster sauce into the beef, then include the green peas.

6. Add the Shaoxing wine and sesame oil. Thicken the sauce with cornstarch slurry.

7. Place the steamed rice in a clay pot. Scoop the ground beef onto the rice. Cover and simmer over low heat for about five minutes. The rice at the bottom will form a slightly charred crust that provides more flavor and texture.

8. Crack an egg in the middle of the spread of the ground beef. The egg will be partially cooked by the heat from the rice to add a silky texture to the rice. Garnish with some chopped scallion (green onions) and serve immediately. 

Try this easy ground beef dinner recipe, which I hope you enjoy. It can be considered the Hong Kong version of the Japanese beef rice bowl but with Cantonese seasonings.

💡Tips to make the best ground beef rice

1. I use the clay pot for better presentation and slightly char the rice at the bottom to create extra flavor.  Alternatively, scoop the steamed rice into a large bowl, then crack an egg.  If the egg is too raw, you can cook an easy-over of a sunny-side-up egg instead of breaking a raw egg on the rice.
2. You may use brown rice instead of white rice for a change.
3. Try adding some beef broth while cooking to enhance the flavor.
4. Include some chili powder or red pepper flakes if you like it spicy.
5. Use ground chicken (or ground pork) if you do not eat beef.
6. Add some toasted sesame seeds on top to serve.
7. You can reduce the amount of fat consumed by taking an extra step- choose the cut of beef you prefer and mince it yourself.  I suggest using flank steak or rump, which contains less fat. You will also get a better texture of the minced beef, as you can control how fine you want to mince the beef. The texture of machine-ground meat differs from that of manually ground meat.
8. If you prepare the minced meat from scratch, keep the beef block in the freezer until it is half-frozen.  Cut the half-frozen beef into thin slices, then strips, and eventually into small dice. Mince the meat to the fineness that you prefer.
9. Lastly, add shredded cheese to make a cheesy ground beef rice bowl.

Love rice? Try these recipes

If you enjoy rice, this blog features some unique recipes that I’d like to recommend to you:

• Nasi lemak – The rice is cooked with coconut milk and served with fried anchovies, roasted groundnuts, and sambal.
• Tomato rice – The rice is cooked with tomatoes and many Malay spices. It is best to be served with Ayam Masak Merah.
• Hainanese chicken rice – It is popular rice dish cooked with chicken stock and served with poached chicken and ginger garlic sauce.