Sunday, March 22, 2009

Mongolian Beef

This recipe is originally from Pink Bites, but I'm linking The Crepes of Wrath version, which has good photos. Hat tip to Instapundit.

1 lb of flank steak or cube steak, thinly sliced crosswise
1/4 cup of cornstarch
3 teaspoons of canola oil
1/2 teaspoon grated ginger (about 1/2 inch piece)
1 tablespoon minced garlic (about 2 -3 large cloves)
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
3 large green onions, sliced
Rice, for serving

1. For the meat, make sure the steak slices are dry by patting them with a paper towel. Slice them into strips, then add the cornstarch to the beef. Place the slices in a strainer and shake off excess corn starch. Begin to cook the rice while you prepare the rest of the meal.
2. For the sauce, heat half of the oil in a large wok or pan at medium-high heat and add the garlic and the ginger. Immediately add the soy sauce, water, brown sugar and pepper flakes. Cook the sauce for about 2 minutes and transfer to a bowl. Don’t worry if the sauce doesn’t look thick enough at this point. The corn starch in the beef will thicken it up later.
3. Place the meat in the same pan and cook, stirring until it is all browned (this is a quick thing). Pour the sauce back into the wok/pan and let it cook along with the meat.
4. You can cook down the sauce to reduce it to thicken or leave it thinner. Add the green onions on the last minute so the green parts will stay green and the white parts crunchy. Serve it hot with rice. Serves 2.

Plus bob's comment from that blog:

"use 1 tsp. of baking soda in the meat prior to cooking. that is the trick to get meat as tender as in the restaurant. you’ll have to add a bit of salt as well, just a 1/2 tsp. baking soda will mellow the salt flavor in the soy sauce."

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