Mongolian Beef

While Mongolian Beef isn't an authentic Chinese dish, it gives an example of the ingredients and seasonings used in Chinese cooking, and is usually served in Chinese-American restaurants (such as P.F. Chang).



This is a simple form of Mongolian beef with only the strips of beef and scallions and can be served with rice. You can also add other vegetables such as bell peppers, onion, or bamboo shoots. For me, my vegetable of choice to pair with any stir-fried Chinese meat dish is baby bok choy. This, I stir-fried lightly with some garlic, oyster sauce, and soy sauce.

To achieve a somewhat crispy texture, this Mongolian Beef recipe recommends deep frying the strips of beef for a short time before stir-frying to finish things off. I am not a big fan of fried food, so usually just stir-fry the the beef with about two teaspoon of oil before adding the sauce. The beef does not come out as crispy, but it makes me happy that it's not oily.

Mongolian Beef

Sauce
2 tsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp minced ginger
1 tbsp chopped garlic
3 tbsp of soy sauce
1/4 cup of water
1/4 cup dark brown sugar

For the Beef
1 cup vegetable oil
1 lb flank steak
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 large chopped scallions

1. Make the sauce by heating 2 tsp of vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over med/low heat. Don't get the oild too hot or you'll get a major spatter when adding the other liquids.

2. Add ginger and garlic to the pan and quickly add the soy sauce and water before the garlic scorches.

3. Dissolve the brown sugar in the sauce, then raise the heat to about medium and boil the sauce for 2-3 minutes or until the sauce thickens. Remove from heat.

4. Slice the flank steak against the grain into 1/4" thick bite-size slices. Tilt the blade of your knife at about a forty five degree angle to the top of the steak so that you get wider cuts.

5. Dip the steak pieces into the cornstarch to apply a very thin dusting to both sides of each piece of beef. Let the beef sit for about 10 minutes so that the cornstarch sticks.

6. As the beef sits, heat up one cup of oil in a wok (you may also use a skillet for this step as long as the beef will be mostly covered with oil). Heat the oil over medium heat until it's nice and hot, but not smoking.

7. Add the beef to the oil and sauté for just two minutes, or until the beef just begins to darken on the edges. You don't need a thorough cooking here since the beef is going to go back on the heat later. Stir the meat around a little so that it cooks evenly.

8. After a couple minutes, use a large slotted spoon to take the meat out and onto paper towels, then pour the oil out of the wok or skillet.

9. Put the pan back over the heat, dump the meat back into it and simmer for one minute.

10. Add the sauce, cook for one minute while stirring, then add all the green onions. Cook for one more minute, then remove the beef and onions with tongs or a slotted spoon to a serving plate.