Mongolian Beef
This simple Mongolian beef dish combines sweet brown sugar and salty soy sauce with a crispy coating to satisfy any craving for Chinese take-out!
Servings: 4
Calories: 430kcal
Ingredients
For the beef:
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1½ pounds flank steak sliced against the grain into 2inch pieces
- ⅓ cup cornstarch
Sauce Ingredients:
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil (leftover from removing all the fry oil except this 1 tablespoon)
- 1 tbsp garlic minced
- 2 tsp fresh ginger minced or grated
- ½ cup brown sugar packed
- ½ cup soy sauce
- ½ cup water
- 2 tbsp hoisin sauce
- 1 tsp sriracha hot chili sauce
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
Finishing:
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- ⅛ tsp red pepper flakes
- 4-5 green onions cut on the diagonal
Instructions
- Slice the meat against the grain into ¼ inch slices, then cut those slices down to 2 inch, bite sized, pieces. *You can freeze the beef for about 30-50 minutes, in the package, prior to slicing. This will make slicing the beef easier.*
- Place the cornstarch in a bowl and toss the meat pieces in the cornstarch. Let sit for 15 minutes.
- Heat the one cup of vegetable oil in a large pan over medium-high heat.
- Add the cornstarch coated beef to the hot oil. Be careful to not crowd the pan and cook in batches. Cook 2-4 minutes per side (it will cook more in the sauce later). Remove meat to a plate. Be careful of hot oil! *Leave all those yummy bits of fry stuff left in the pan. They will add to the sauce flavor.*
- Now to make the sauce. Empty out all the oil from the pan except about 1 tablespoon.
- Reduce the heat to medium. Add the ginger and garlic and stir for about one minute.
- Add the brown sugar (first because you don’t want to add liquid to hot grease). Stir. Then add the soy sauce, water, hoisin sauce, sriracha and red pepper flakes to the pan. Bring to a boil and simmer until it thickens. Stir occasionally scraping up the yummy bits at the bottom of the pan.*You can add a cornstarch/water mixture if it doesn’t get as thick as you like. I added 1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon cold water. Stir this mixture into the bubbling sauce and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes until the sauce thickens.*
- Once sauce has thickened add the meat back into the pan. Add the sesame oil, red pepper flakes and green onions. Stir to combine and heat through.
- Serve over the prepared white rice and garnish with extra green onions.
Video
Notes
PRO TIPS:
- When slicing the meat I highly suggest to freeze it for 30-50 minutes beforehand. That way, it will freeze just enough that cutting it will become very smooth and easy. Make sure that you cut the steak against the grain.
- You can substitute light brown sugar for the dark brown sugar, but it will slightly alter the flavoring.
- Be very cautious of how thick you cut the meat. If you cut it too thin, it will become flimsy and cook very quickly. But, if cut too thick it will not cook through. Try to keep it to ¼ inch thick cuts.
- Be aware of hot oil! I can’t stress this enough. One of the trickiest things about making this recipe when I first started out, was working with the hot oil and making sure that I didn’t get burned.
- Don't overcrowd the pan - cook the meat in batches if your pan isn't large enough.
- If you don't already own one, I would invest in a good wok (this is the one I own)! I use it all the time for stir fry and other dishes!
- Feel free to swap out the soy sauce for a reduced-sodium soy sauce.
Nutrition
Calories: 430kcal | Carbohydrates: 44g | Protein: 40g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 102mg | Sodium: 1881mg | Potassium: 738mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 30g | Vitamin A: 178IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 81mg | Iron: 4mg