Mongolian Beef

Everyone loves Chinese food don't they?  I know we do, and by the popularity of the stir fry dishes I've posted I'm going to take a leap and say that you do too.  Even better is that it's a great take-out dish. It's easy to order and pick up on the way home.  Well let's just say that making your own "take-out" is just easy.  Don't believe that?  Well just read on.

Mongolian Beef is a favorite dish of mine to order when we go to a certain Chinese restaurant in our neighborhood.  I just love the spicy and deep flavors the brown sauce lends to it.

I've been craving some lately and we just haven't had time to stop by the restaurant to pick some up, so I set out on a mission to recreate my own version of this dish. Let's forget the take-out and have take-in instead!

If you plan on making Chinese stir frys at home it is best to invest in some pantry items that you have on hand whenever the craving strikes.  Items such as soy sauce, hoisin sauce, ginger, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, and sriracha sauce are some of the ingredients I use regularly and try to always keep on hand.  These items are easily picked up at your local grocery store in the Asian section and I've even seen them at Trader Joes.   Tip:  make sure to keep the sesame oil in the refrigerator as it WILL go rancid if left out (speaking from experience...) yuk!!! You don't want to ruin your dish.

Mongolian Beef is our quest today.  It's a classic Chinese-American dish that has no reference to Mongolia except for the name. But who cares!  When you put a gingery-garlicky brown sauce together with strips of beef and vegetables I'm in heaven.  You will be too!

I took a nice sirloin steak and sliced it thinly and added some vegetables (onion and mini bell pepper mix) for some texture and crunch.  Make the wonderful sauce first so that you are ready to add it at the end when it's almost done.  Stir frys cook very quickly in a hot skillet or wok.  Having your items all ready to go prior to cooking is very helpful in these fast paced dishes.  No one wants to be frantic when cooking, and you've forgot to make the sauce!

Serve this mildly spiced dish over rice or wide rice noodles to catch all the sauce. I served it with rice and my Asian Cucumber Salad.  Great for a summer evening.  

Enjoy!



Mongolian Beef

serves 4

2 T low-sodium soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp cornstarch
2 tsp dry sherry
2 tsp hoisin sauce
1 tsp rice vinegar
2 tsp sriracha sauce
2 tsp oil
1 T minced ginger, fresh
1 T garlic, minced
1 pound sirloin steak, cut across grain into thin slices
1/2 yellow onion sliced thinly
2 bell peppers, julienne sliced (mixed colors, red, yellow, and orange)

To make the sauce,  combine the soy sauce, sugar, cornstarch, sherry, hoisin sauce, vinegar, sriracha sauce in a small bowl.  Whisk until smooth. 

Heat the oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add ginger, garlic, and beef and cook about 4 minutes or until beef is browned. Remove beef from the skillet to a plate. Set aside.  

Add the onion and peppers to the skillet and cook, stirring often about 3 minutes until crisp tender.   Add your meat and any collected juices back to the skillet and stir. Add the sauce mixture to pan. cook 1 minute stirring constantly, or until thickened. Serve over rice or noodles.