Mongolian Beef w/White Rice

This is one of my favorite dinner recipes to make. I developed this from a combination of a couple different recipes that I found online. I tried a few different recipes and then took the parts that I liked from each to make this. One of the recipes had a good sauce, but the meat wasn't all that flavorful. Another recipe marinated the meat prior to cooking which added a lot of flavor to the meat, but the sauce wasn't so great. With a few adjustments this is what I came up with...


(Serves 4)

Ingredients:

1lb Flank Steak
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp ginger, minced
1 tbsp garlic, minced
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp rice wine
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
3 green onions, sliced
1 1/2 medium onions, sliced
oil (for frying)
1 tbsp cornstarch, mixed in cold water

2 cups white rice or as much as you like for serving.

Marinade Ingredients:

3 tbsp rice wine
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp chili oil
1 tsp olive oil
2 tsp sugar
2 tbsp soy sauce

So the first step is to marinade the meat. I usually let the meat sit in the marinade for 3-5 hours before cooking time. This isn't an overnight marinade, the meat will probably turn out too salty if it is left overnight.

Cut steak into 1 1/2 inch long slices, against the grain. Cutting against the grain is very important here as well as cutting the slices very thin. The meat isn't going to cook very long in this recipe so cutting it thinly allows for quick cooking. Cutting against the grain keeps the meat tender by exposing more muscle fibers. A lean flank steak if the best cut of meat for this recipe. Cut out any pieces of fat.

Start by adding the rice wine to the steak pieces and mix it with your hand until evenly distributed. I had a hard time touching raw meat at first, but this will be so worth it. (I promise!) Next sprinkle the salt and baking soda until coated. Add the cornstarch and mix again until coated. In a small cup mix together the chili oil, olive oil, sugar and soy sauce. The importance of mixing these ingredients together in a separate bowl is to dissolve the sugar and combine the oils. Then stir this final mixture into the steak, cover and let it marinate in the refrigerator for 3-5 hours.

Now relax and read a book. 3 hours later when you're ready to start cooking, toss some rice into your handy dandy rice cooker. If you don't have a rice cooker, then get one! You'll get perfect rice every time.

After getting the rice started pour some oil for frying into a wok. Using an instant read thermometer heat the oil to about 375 degrees F. While the oil is heating up I take the time to chop up the onions and mince the garlic and ginger. You can slice the onions however you want, but I like to cut the green onions into about 2-3 inch long slices and thin slices for the yellow onion.

Set the onions aside. Mince the ginger and garlic and set aside as well. When the oil is heated up, cook the meat for about 2-3 minutes, in batches.

Remove the beef to paper towels to soak up excess oil. Drain the oil from the wok, except for 1 tbsp for cooking the onions. Add the onions to the wok and cook for 3-4 minutes. Remove the onions from the heat while you make the sauce. No need to remove the onions from the wok, because the sauce will be made in a separate pot.

Heat 2 tbsp oil in a small pot, add garlic and ginger once the oil is hot and cook for 10 seconds. Add the water to slow the cooking of the garlic and ginger and then add the soy sauce, rice wine, brown sugar and red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil for 2-3 minutes.

Return the onions to the heat and add the sauce and the steak. Cook until the sauce bubbles. Mix 1 tbsp of cornstarch into some cold water and add to the Mongolian Beef. Stir until the sauce thickens a little bit.

Serve over your white rice and enjoy!