Asian Sloppy Joes are such a great burger, way less admin than making burger patties and this one has a gorgeous rich sauce made from lots of fresh ginger, garlic and oyster sauce. Yum!
I love food like this, messy and interactive, food to eat with friends!
Place that lovely sloppy meat sauce in between warm brioche buns, some Kewpie Mayo, burger cheese, crisp iceberg and finish with mint and coriander. Crunchy, punchy and delish!
I use oyster sauce quite a lot, often to add depth and an umami salty element to things like stir fries, curries and stews. It is really versatile.
To make the Asian Sloppy Joe mix you will need oil or sesame oil, an onion, 2 cloves of garlic, a thumb sized piece of ginger, 500 grams of beef mince, Oyster Sauce, tomato paste, water, brown sugar and lemon juice. You can also add sweet chilli sauce if you like a hint of spice.
To assemble the burgers you need brioche buns, burger cheese, iceberg lettuce, herbs – coriander and mint, and kewpie mayo.
As always you can make this recipe your own by swapping out ingredients and adding your own spin on them, and burgers are perfect for doing this, try it with cucumber pickle, fresh tomatoes or siracha sauce.
How to make Asian Sloppy Joes:
Start by heating the oil in a medium sized pan and cooking the onion until translucent. Then add the ginger and garlic and cook, while stirring for a minute. Add the beef mince now, use a spoon to break up the mince so that you don’t have big chunks of meat.
Add the rest of the sloppy joe mixture except for the lemon juice. The tomato paste, oyster sauce, brown sugar and sweet chilli if you are using it. now we want to work on the consistency, do this by adding a little water at a time and cooking for a couple of minutes. The amount of water will depend on the heat you have your pan on and how much moisture is in your mince. BUT you don’t want to dilute those lovely sauces and flavour. Once you are happy that the beef is cooked and you have a nice sloppy mix, taste the mixture and adjust your seasoning if needed. If it needs more salt, add a little more oyster sauce, if it needs a little more sweet, add a little more sugar.
Turn off the mince mixture and add the juice of half a lemon, stir and set aside. Now lets get that burger assembled. Toast the brioche buns under the grill until golden, then spread tops and bottoms with kewpie mayo. Then add cheese, 1/4 of the sloppy joe mix, top with lettuce, herbs and finish with a burger lid and serve!
If you are looking for more delish dinner recipe check out my posts for Lamb & Haloumi Gyro’s and Kung Pao Chicken.
Common questions about Asian Sloppy Joes:
What can I use instead of Beef mince? You can try this recipe with lamb, pork or chicken mince.
Other filling ideas? It would be delish with a quick pickled vegetable like carrots, red onion or cucumber. Or try sliced tomato, siracha sauce or creamy coleslaw.
Asian Sloppy Joes
Ingredients
Sloppy Joe Mix
- 1 tablespoon Oil/Lee Kum Kee Sesame Oil
- 1 Onion peeled and finely diced
- 2 cloves Garlic peeled and crushed
- 1 x large thumb sized piece of Ginger peeled and cut finely on a microplane
- 500 grams Beef Mince
- 3 Tablespoons Lee Kum Kee Oyster Sauce
- 2 tablespoons Tomato Paste
- 2 -4 tablespoons Water
- 1 Tablespoon Sweet Chilli *Optional
- 1 ½ Tablespoons Brown Sugar
- ½ Lemon
To Assemble
- 4 Brioche Buns
- 4 slices of burger Cheese
- ¼ Iceberg Lettuce thinly sliced
- ½ cup herbs leaves, I used mint, a mixture of coriander and mint is lovely,
- Kewpie Mayo
Instructions
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In a medium sized fry pan over a medium heat add oil, once hot add the onion, cook until starting to turn translucent, around 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
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Add the ginger and garlic, cook, stirring occasionally for 1 minute.
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Add the beef mince and break up using a wooden spoon. Add tomato paste, oyster sauce and brown sugar. Add sweet chilli sauce if using.
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Cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally.
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Add 2 tablespoons of water. This is where the “sloppy” comes in, so I start by adding 2 tablespoons, and cook for around 2 minutes. If you think it needs to be wetter, add another extra 2 tablespoons of water. The amount of water will depend on the heat you have your pan on and how much moisture is in your mince. BUT you don’t want to dilute those lovely sauces and flavour. Once you are happy that the beef is cooked and you have a nice sloppy mix, taste the mixture and adjust your seasoning if needed. If it needs more salt, add a little more oyster sauce, if it needs a little more sweet, add a little more sugar.
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Once you are happy with seasoning, turn it off and add the juice of half a lemon. Stir and set aside.
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To assemble your burgers, toast your brioche buns in the oven.
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Spread both top and bottom liberally with Kewpie mayo, add quarter of the Sloppy Joe mixture.
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Top with 1 slice of cheese, ¼ of the lettuce, ¼ of the herbs and top with the burger bun.
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Serve.
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DELISH!
