Mongolian beef- easy home recipe (ready in 30 minutes)

After my recent trip to Mongolia, I can confirm that the famous take-out dish, “Mongolian beef,” is not served in Mongolia. Mongolian cuisine is simple, often involving boiling and barbecuing on hot stones. Despite this, I still love Mongolian beef’s flavorful combination of soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and sugar. It’s best enjoyed right after frying when the beef is still crispy.

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• Beef. Due to its rich flavor and tenderness, sirloin steak is the best choice for this recipe. If you find sirloin too pricey, you can choose a less expensive alternative, such as flank steak or skirt steak.
• The aromatics. This recipe uses fresh ginger, fresh garlic, and dry chili, a combination especially common in Chinese cuisine, such as General Tso Chicken. You can adjust the spiciness by increasing or reducing the dry chili or substituting it with red pepper flakes.
• The sauce. The flavoring agent consists of light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and brown sugar. You may notice that the amount of light soy sauce is relatively high, as the saltiness of this recipe does not depend on any additional salt. The sugar used in this recipe might seem like a lot, but it is necessary to produce the required flavor. Indulging in something slightly sweeter once in a while is okay.

👉 How to make Mongolian Beef

This easy Mongolian Beef recipe is so tasty that you won’t order takeout from a Chinese restaurant once you’ve tried it.

Mongolian beef- easy home recipe (ready in 30 minutes)

Recipe by kwankp

0.0 from 0 votes

Cuisine: American ChineseDifficulty: Easy

Servings

2

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

15

minutes

Everyone enjoyed an American Chinese take-out dish, best served with white rice.

Ingredients

• Ingredients A (beef)

• 300 g beef, (sirloin, tenderloin, chuck)

• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil

• 2 teaspoons light soy sauce

• 2 tablespoons corn starch

• Ingredients B (Coating powder)

• 2 tablespoons wheat flour

• 2 tablespoons cornstarch

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• Ingredients C (aromatics)

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

• 20 g ginger, coarsely chopped

• 3 pieces dry red chili, cut into short pieces]

• 4 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped

• Ingredients D (Gravy)

• 2 tablespoons light soy sauce

• 2 teaspoon dark soy sauce]

• 2 tablespoons brown sugar

• 4 tablespoons water

• Ingredients E (Others)

• 1 teaspoon cornstarch slurry consisting of 1 tsp of cornstarch with 1 tbsp of water

• vegetable oil for deep-frying

Directions

• Cut the beef into thin slices. Marinate with the rest of the ingredient A for 15 minutes.
• Coat the marinated beef with ingredient (B).
• Deep-fried the beef slices in hot oil for two minutes.
  
• Remove and drain.
• Saute the remaining ingredients (C) with oil until they turn fragrant.
• Add ingredients (D) and wait until it returns to a boil.
• Add the cornflour slurry to thicken the gravy. Add the beef. Flash fry for ten seconds. Serve.

Recipe Video

💡Tips and notes for the best Mongolian Beef

1. I used the ‘deep-fry’ method in this recipe, which produces the best cooking results at home. I add an inch of oil to the large skillet to deep-fry the beef. It is not big enough to fry all the beef, so I divide it into two batches to avoid overcrowding it in the pan.
2. The best result is to use high heat to deep-fry, about 180 to 190 degrees Celsius, so it can be cooked quickly and browned with minimal time. This method will preserve the tenderness and prevent the loss of moisture. Prolonged deep-frying is not recommended.
3. Add more water to make a thinner sauce before adding the crispy beef to the pan if you prefer more gravy. Alternatively, if the sauce is too thin, add some cornstarch slurry to thicken it. In this recipe, I use less water to make the sauce so that all the flavor is absorbed and clings to the beef, maximizing the flavor.
4. If you prefer, you can use an air fryer instead of deep-frying the beef. When marinating the beef, add one tablespoon of oil. Set the air fryer to the highest temperature and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the beef is fully cooked and turns light brown. Air frying will not produce the same crispy texture as deep-frying, but it is a healthier alternative.
5. The key to getting tender beef is to cut the meat into thin slices and across the grain, which can be easily done by slicing semi-frozen beef.
6. Variation: You can customize this recipe by adding green onions, red bell pepper, and green beans based on your preference. Mongolian Beef has no set recipe, so feel free to adjust it.
7. The sauce ingredients I use are similar to the ones in our restaurant. However, you can modify the ingredients in the sauce to suit your taste. You may add Hoisin sauce, oyster sauce, and sesame oil. You can get all these from the Asian grocery store.

🆒 How to store the Mongolian Beef

Mongolian beef can be safely stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Before placing it in the fridge, please ensure the beef is cool to room temperature and store it in an airtight container. Cooling the beef before storing it is essential to prevent condensation from building up in the container, which could cause the dish to become soggy.

You can also freeze Mongolian beef for 3-4 months.

When reheating frozen Mongolian beef, thaw it in the refrigerator overnight, then reheat it in a skillet with a small amount of oil.

📜 Other related recipe to Mongolian Beef

If you like this recipe, make some cauliflower soup and serve it with plain rice. It is a perfect match.