BETTER THAN TAKEOUT - Mongolian Beef Recipe
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Mongolian Beef is one of the most popular takeout dishes in American Chinese restaurants. The funny thing is, I have never seen this dish anywhere in China, so there is no authentic recipe that originated in China. The reason why this is considered a Chinese dish is because it uses the classic marinade method called velveting to tenderize the meat, which provides excellent soft and succulent results.
Although Mongolian Beef is deep-fried in restaurants, I recommend shallow-frying because it is more friendly for home cooking, and the taste is equally delicious.
Ingredients
For marinating the beef
- 454g / 1 pound beef
- 28g / 2 Tbsps Chinese cooking wine
- 1.9g / ⅓ tsp salt
- 1.2g / ½ tsp ground black pepper
- 2.8g / ½ tsp dark soy sauce
- 23g / 3 Tbsps cornstarch
- 1 egg white
For making the sauce
- 5g / 2 tsps cornstarch
- 42g / 2.5 Tbsps soy sauce
- 38g / 3 Tbsps brown sugar
- 18g / 1 Tbsp oyster sauce
- 120g / ½ cup water
- 5.5g / 1 tsp dark soy sauce
For frying and finishing
- 220g / 1 cup oil
- 9g / 1 Tbsp minced ginger
- 13.5g / 1.5 Tbsps minced garlic
- 90g / about 6 scallions, separate the white and green parts and cut into stalks
- 3.6g / 2 tsps chili flakes
- 9g / 1 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds as garnish
Directions
Cut the beef across the muscle grains into ⅛-inch thick slices. Add the beef slices, Chinese cooking wine, salt, ground black pepper, and dark soy sauce to a large mixing bowl.
- Add cornstarch and egg white and keep mixing the meat for a few minutes or until the meat becomes smooth and velvety. Set it aside for 30 minutes.
- While waiting, combine all the sauce ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
- In a wok, heat 1 cup oil to 400°F / 204°C. Add the beef slices to the wok piece by piece and shallow-fry the meat in 2-3 batches over high heat for 30 seconds per side or until both sides are golden brown. Remove the beef from the oil and set it aside.
- Pour out most of the oil, reserving 1 Tbsp in the wok. Add the minced ginger, garlic, the white part of the scallion stalks, and the dried red chilies (optional); stir over medium heat for 2 minutes. Add the sauce and continue to stir until it thickens.
- Introduce the beef back into the wok, toss in the green part of the scallion stalks, and mix until the beef is well-coated.
- Sprinkle the toasted sesame seeds as a garnish and serve with white rice.
