This simple do-it-yourself Mongolian beef is crispy, saucy, and higher than takeout. Tender flank steak, shiny brown sauce, and prepared in beneath an hour. My beef stir-fry recipe beats PF Chang’s model each time!

What’s Mongolian Beef?

Regardless of the identify, Mongolian beef is definitely a Chinese language-American restaurant dish relatively than a standard Mongolian recipe. It grew to become common in North American Chinese language eating places resembling PF Chang’s due to its savory-sweet sauce, tender beef, and fast wok cooking fashion.

My model is so significantly better than takeout whereas staying true to these restaurant flavors by utilizing basic components like soy sauce, ginger, garlic, scallions, Shaoxing wine, and dried chiles. The most important distinction is that I concentrate on growing deeper taste and higher texture at dwelling by correctly marinating and crisping the meat, relatively than counting on extra sugar or heavy sauce.

It is a nice weeknight dinner as a result of the precise cook dinner time is quick. As soon as the prep is finished, every little thing comes collectively in about quarter-hour. It is also surprisingly simple, identical to my different Asian-inspired important dishes resembling Asian salmon and noodles, reader-favorite Asian beef with mushrooms and snow peas, and Asian rooster rice soup.

Why This Recipe Works

• I make every little thing in a single pan or wok, so cleanup is minimal. 
• Prepared in beneath an hour, simple sufficient for weeknights, ok for dinner friends.
• Baking soda within the marinade tenderizes the flank steak quick, no in a single day marinating wanted.
• I dredge the meat in cornstarch earlier than frying, which creates crispy edges that keep coated within the shiny Mongolian sauce relatively than turning soggy.
• I take advantage of pantry staples to make a sauce that tastes prefer it got here straight out of your favourite Chinese language restaurant. 
• Shaoxing wine provides genuine Chinese language stir-fry taste you can’t get from substitutes alone. Dry sherry will probably be your finest substitute right here!
• Versatile recipe. Swap in bok choy, snap peas, or broccoli as an alternative of scallions (inexperienced onions). Pile it over noodles as an alternative of rice. Or, serve Mongolian beef in lettuce wraps or over cauliflower “rice” for a more healthy possibility!
• It is also dairy-free, gluten-free, and excessive in protein. Use gluten-free soy sauce.

What Makes My Recipe Stand Out

Numerous Mongolian beef recipes on-line go heavy on brown sugar and find yourself tasting like sweet. In reality, PF Chang’s model of Mongolian beef is just too sugary for me and positively too candy for my carnivore, savory-food-loving husband. To stability that out, I take advantage of beef inventory as the bottom of the meat stir-fry sauce, which provides it a wealthy, savory spine earlier than the brown sugar rounds every little thing out. The result’s shiny and daring with out being cloying.

Components & Substitutions

• Flank Steak. It cooks shortly and absorbs marinades effectively. Sirloin, skirt steak, or flat iron work simply as effectively.
• Soy Sauce. Use gluten-free soy sauce or tamari to make it gluten-free. You can even use coconut aminos.
• Shaoxing Wine. It is a scrumptious Chinese language cooking wine that may’t be replicated another approach, however sherry or sake can be utilized as an alternative if mandatory. You can even use mirin or perhaps a splash of rice vinegar with a tiny pinch of sugar.
• Cornstarch. Cornstarch serves two functions right here: it tenderizes and creates the crispy coating. 
• Baking Soda. I take advantage of it for a basic Chinese language restaurant approach referred to as velveting. It tenderizes more durable cuts shortly.
• Beef Inventory. You can even use rooster inventory and even water as an alternative.
• Brown Sugar. You should utilize darkish brown sugar, which provides barely deeper molasses notes to the meat stir-fry sauce.
• Ginger and Garlic. I do not advocate powdered variations as a result of contemporary is finest right here. 
• Dried Pink Chiles: Entire dried árbol chiles or Chinese language dried chiles make nice substitutes right here.
• Scallions. I like utilizing each the white and inexperienced elements for layered taste.
• Impartial Cooking Oil. Use avocado, canola, or peanut oil. You can even use a light-weight olive oil labeled for high-heat cooking or frying.

Variations

• MORE sauce: Add in a further ½ cup of broth and 1 tablespoon of cornstarch combined into the broth previous to cooking.
• Spicy: Be at liberty to interrupt all the dried chiles for this recipe to provide it a pleasant warmth bomb!  You’ll be able to even crush them up as effectively.
• Extremely crispy beef: Want extra crunch? Double fry the meat!
• Veggie-balanced: Throw in some julienned carrots, bell peppers, snow peas, or sliced onion for a extra balanced veggie-to-protein ratio. Cook dinner these proper after you’ve got sweated the aromatics and chiles.

What Is Shaoxing Wine?

Shaoxing wine is a Chinese language rice wine constituted of fermented glutinous rice. It has a barely amber shade and a nutty, mildly candy taste that’s fully totally different from sake or white wine. In Chinese language cooking, it’s utilized in marinades and stir fries the identical approach you’d use wine in Western cooking, so as to add complexity and assist tenderize proteins.

Dry sherry is the most typical substitute, however in the event you cook dinner numerous Asian meals, Shaoxing wine is value conserving in your pantry. It’s cheap, accessible at most Asian grocery shops, and a small bottle lasts a very long time.

What to Serve With Mongolian Beef

• Basic pairings are steamed jasmine rice, brown rice, fried rice, or lo mein noodles.
• Greens I like to recommend utilizing embrace bok choy, inexperienced beans, broccoli, snap peas, snow peas, and Asian cucumber salad.
• Low-carb sides: Serve it in lettuce wraps or over cauliflower “rice”
• Add it to rice bowls with kimchi, cucumber, and a fried egg.
• Serve it family-style alongside dumplings and spring rolls for takeout-at-home night time.

Make Mongolian Beef (Step-by-Step Images)

• MARINATE: Mix the steak, soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, cornstarch, water, oil, and baking soda in a bowl. Marinate for half-hour.
• MAKE STIR-FRY SAUCE: Whisk collectively the meat inventory, soy sauce, brown sugar, and cornstarch in a separate bowl till easy. Put aside.

• SEAR THE STEAK: Dredge the steak in cornstarch, shaking off the surplus. Cook dinner the meat in sizzling oil till browned and crispy on either side. Switch to a plate.

• SAUTÉ VEGGIES: Add the ginger, garlic, white scallion items, and dried chiles to the new skillet. Cook dinner till aromatic, about 1-2 minutes.
• SIMMER: Whisk the stir-fry sauce once more, pour it into the skillet with sautéed veggies, and simmer till thickened and shiny.

• ADD BEEF: Return the meat to the skillet and toss to coat. Add the inexperienced scallions.
• SERVE: Serve over rice with sesame seeds and further scallions.