Easy, Inexpensive Recipe: Mongolian Beef for Under $10!
I have thought multiple times about tackling Mongolian beef in my kitchen, but I never, ever thought I’d be able to do it. I finally worked up the confidence as my nearest PF Chang’s restaurant is over 30 minutes away and on a weeknight that’s just not feasible. And, the menu price… well that’s not always in the budget. So I whipped up my own version of this very popular restaurant favorite and let me tell ‘ya. I’m glad I got the guts to do it because this recipe is SO easy. And, for my family of four, the recipe cost me about $10 to make. And a little boost to my ego if I do say so myself. 😉 I think you can do it, too. Items I used for this recipe:
Recipe for Mongolian Beef
Make the sauce first. Pour 2 teaspoons of oil into a medium saucepan over medium/low heat. Add minced garlic and ginger stirring with a whisk. Add the soy sauce and water. Dissolve the brown sugar into the liquid and bring to a boil for about 5 minutes. The sauce will still be fairly runny when it’s done boiling, that’s ok. Remove it from the heat.
Slice the flank steak in 1/4 inch slices at a 45 degree angle against the grain into bite size pieces. (I had my butcher do this – easy peasy! My butcher is awesome.) Dip the steak pieces into the cornstarch to apply a thin layer of dusting to the steak. Let that sit for about 10 minutes.
As the beef sits, heat one cup of oil in your pan. If you don’t have a wok (I don’t as you can see from the pictures) use a little more oil. I used about a cup and a half – just enough to almost cover the meat. The beef will begin to brown on the edges. That’s good. Stir the meat around a bit and after a couple minutes remove the beef from the oil with a slotted spoon into a bowl lined with paper towels and pour the oil out into a bowl or something that it won’t melt.
Put the pan back over medium heat and put meat back in, browning for a minute or so. Add the sauce to this pan and the green onions. Serve over rice.Enjoy.
What is Mongolian Beef?
Mongolian beef is a dish usually served in Chinese-American restaurants consisting of sliced beef, typically a flank or flat-iron steak, and stir-fried with vegetables (usually green onions) in a savory brown sauce, usually made with soy sauce, and chili peppers.
Easy, Inexpensive Recipe: Mongolian Beef
Prep Time 35 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Servings 4 servings
Author Kate
Ingredients
- Mongolian Beef Ingredients:
- 2tvegetable oil
- 1/2t.minced ginger
- 1Tchopped garlic
- 1/2cuplow sodium soy sauce
- 1/2cupwater
- 3/4cupdark brown sugar
- 1cvegetable oil
- 1poundflankor flat iron steak
- 1/4ccorn starch
- 2large green onions
Instructions
Pour 2 teaspoons of oil into a medium saucepan over medium/low heat.
Add minced garlic and ginger stirring with a whisk.
Add the soy sauce and water.
Dissolve the brown sugar into the liquid and bring to a boil for about 5 minutes.
The sauce will still be fairly runny when it's done boiling, that's ok.
Remove it from the heat.
Slice the flank steak in 1/4 inch slices at a 45 degree angle against the grain into bite size pieces. (I had my butcher do this - easy peasy! My butcher is awesome.)
Dip the steak pieces into the cornstarch to apply a thin layer of dusting to the steak.
Let that sit for about 10 minutes.
As the beef sits, heat one cup of oil in your pan.
If you don't have a wok (I don't as you can see from the pictures) use a little more oil.
I used about a cup and a half - just enough to almost cover the meat.
The beef will begin to brown on the edges. That's good.
Stir the meat around a bit and after a couple minutes remove the beef from the oil with a slotted spoon into a bowl lined with paper towels and pour the oil out into a bowl or something that it won't melt.
Put the pan back over med heat and put meat back in, browning for a minute or so.
Add the sauce to this pan and the green onions.
Serve over rice. Enjoy!
Studies have shown that if you like this Mongolian Beef recipe you’ll probably really love these ones, too. Click on the image to be taken directly to any of these posts.
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FAQs
Making the Mongolian Beef Sauce
Whisk the Mongolian Beef Sauce ingredients together consisting of soy sauce, water, brown sugar, Asian sweet chili sauce, rice wine, hoisin, pepper, sriracha and cornstarch.
What is the difference between Mongolian beef and Chinese beef? ›
Szechuan beef vs Mongolian beef, what's the difference? Szechuan beef has a sweet and spicy flavor, and Mongolian beef has a mild taste. Szechuan beef hails from the Sichuan Province in southwestern China. Its main ingredients are chili peppers, garlic, and Szechuan peppercorn.
Why is Mongolian beef so tender? ›
This is the KEY ingredient to super tender beef. Baking soda is commonly used in Chinese cooking to tenderize beef. If you're curious about the science behind it – baking soda neutralizes acid and raises the pH level, which causes the meat to become more alkaline.
What is a substitute for cornstarch in Mongolian beef? ›
Try using arrowroot or tapioca starch as substitutions for cornstarch. Both options are great starchy flours and are also gluten-free! It's important to note that if you're using either one of these to double the amount (that I call for using cornstarch) as it is not an equal 1:1 replacement of cornstarch.
What is PF Chang's Mongolian sauce? ›
Deep and flavorful, our Mongolian Style BBQ Sauce can attribute its flavor profile to smoked black pepper, sweet molasses, soy sauce and garlic making this sauce versatile for marinades and as a finishing sauce.
What is the secret ingredient in stir fry beef? ›
Velvet the beef: The velveting technique involves tenderizing, marinating, and a quick searing of the meat. To tenderize: Sprinkle with baking soda (the secret Chinese meat tenderizer). To marinate (a quick marinade): Add basic beef marinade and mix to coat evenly. Let marinate for 15 minutes or up to overnight.
Is Mongolian beef healthy for you? ›
It's a good source of protein, iron, zinc, and various vitamins and minerals. By using lean cuts of beef and adding plenty of vegetables, you can make Mongolian beef a part of a healthy and balanced diet.
Why is Chinese takeout beef so tender? ›
Velveting is a Chinese method of marinating which keeps delicate meat and seafood moist and tender during cooking.
What ethnicity is Mongolian beef? ›
Mongolian beef is a dish from Taiwan consisting of sliced beef, typically flank steak, usually made with onions. The beef is commonly paired with scallions or mixed vegetables and is often not spicy. The dish is often served over steamed rice, or in the US, over crispy fried cellophane noodles.
Do you need to rinse baking soda off meat? ›
From there, leave it in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours or overnight. Then take the meat out of the container and rinse it ensuring that all—or most—of the baking soda is off the steak.
Combine the sliced beef with the marinade ingredients (the neutral oil, Shaoxing wine, light soy sauce, cornstarch, water, and baking soda. Marinate for 1 hour. The beef should still be quite moist after it has marinated. If it looks too dry, add a tablespoon of water to it.
How do the Chinese marinate their beef? ›
In Chinese cooking, velveting meats includes 2 steps: tenderizing and marinating. Tenderize beef in a mixture of baking soda, soy sauce, salt, and oil. Let the mixture marinate for at least 15 minutes or overnight for optimal flavor and tenderness.
Is cornstarch or baking soda better for tenderizing meat? ›
While there are several ways to velvet, a pound of meat needs about two teaspoons of cornstarch and two teaspoons of oil, says Leung. You may also include two to three tablespoons of water. For beef, add a 1/4-teaspoon of baking soda for tenderizing.
How to make beef tender quick? ›
How to tenderise beef – easily!
- Sprinkle 3/4 tsp baking soda (bi-carbonate soda) on 250g / 8oz sliced economical beef cuts.
- Toss with fingers, leave for 30 minutes.
- Rinse, pat off excess water.
- Proceed with stir fry recipe. It can be marinated with wet or dry seasonings, or cooked plain.
True Teriyaki has Mirin and Sake in it and those two ingredients aren't in my Mongolian Beef recipe. That's like saying Ketchup is just co*cktail Sauce even though it needs horseradish to make it so.
Does Mongolian beef contain oyster sauce? ›
Place the steak in a shallow bowl and add the water, vegetable, and cornstarch mixture. Massage all the ingredients into the meat. Cover and refrigerate for 2 to 12 hours. For the sauce: Combine the oyster sauce, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, cornstarch, vinegar, garlic and half the ginger in a small bowl and set aside.
What is Mongolian beef supposed to taste like? ›
When done just right, it's perfectly sweet and savory, slightly spicy, and loaded with lots of delicious aromatics such as ginger, garlic, green onions and even a few dried red chilis, all combined to bring a nice pop of deep, fragrant flavor.
What does Mongolian beef taste like? ›
Szechuan Beef has a sweet and spicy flavor with added chili peppers and Szechuan peppercorns. The Szechuan peppercorns has a distinctive tingly numbing sensation when eaten. Mongolian beef has a mild and much simpler taste, making it a kids' favorite, outside of broccoli beef.
