Mongolian Beef

If you like the restaurant PF Chang and you like their Mongolian Beef, you will like this recipe. I combined a couple of copycat recipes, made some adaptations, and this is was I came up with. I will admit, there are quite a few steps to this recipe, but if you prep your meat and veggies, it really isn't very hard. To me the most difficult part is frying the meat in the oil without getting burned. In fact, I would suggest having a helper with the meat frying, one of you should be responsible for putting the meat into the pan and the other person should be in charge of flipping the meat and removing it to a reserve plate.


One, no two final notes. I added mushrooms to this dish, mostly I just thought it would add an extra flavor and a little more texture to the dish, but if you don't like mushrooms just leave them out. And two, I listed in the ingredients 1 or 2 bunches of green onions. I used one, and wished that I had about half as much more. So, I would suggest using about 1 1/2 bunches of green onions, but that will vary on your taste preference, as well as the size of bunch your local market sells.

Enjoy!

Mongolian Beef
Recipe and pictures by Caroline

2 lbs flank or skirt steak
¼ cup corn starch
2 tsp vegetable or peanut oil
1 tsp fresh ginger, minced
1 tbsp garlic, minced
½ cup low sodium soy sauce
½ cup water
½ cup dark brown sugar
½ cup vegetable or peanut oil
¼ to ½ cup mushroom pieces, depending on your preference
1 to 2 bunches green onions, green part only, cut in half

1. Trim all fat and silver skin from meat. Cut the meat into bite-sized pieces. Dust steak pieces lightly in cornstarch and set aside while preparing the sauce. Be sure to use a very light dusting of cornstarch, otherwise the texture will not be what you want.
2. In a small sauce pan heat oil over medium high heat. Add ginger and garlic. Add soy sauce and water to the ginger and garlic before it browns. Add brown sugar and whisk until dissolved. Bring sauce to a boil and simmer about 10 minutes or until slightly reduced and thickened. Remove from the heat and reserve.
3. In a large skillet or wok heat 1/2 cup oil over medium high heat. Working in batches, add the steak a few at a time to the hot oil. Cook about 2 minutes without touching the meat then flip each piece and cook 1 minute more. Remove meat and continue with next batch, leave meat just slightly rarer than you want it cooked. Once all meat is browned, pour off oil and wipe out skillet. 4. Put pan back over heat and add the mushrooms, let cook for about 1 minute until slightly softened. Add the meat and the sauce to the pan and simmer for about 1 minute. Add the green onions and continue to heat for about 2 more minutes.
5. Use tongs to remove meat and veggies to a serving dish, leaving excess sauce in the pan. Serve over rice.