Mongolian Beef

My husband invited his life-time friend over for dinner this past week for his birthday and he made him this Mongolian Beef recipe.  It was delicious.  Both he and I are big fans of PF Chang’s Mongolian Beef.  I recommend you try this recipe out.  It’s delicious.

Ingredients:
4 tsp. vegetable oil
2 tsp. ginger, minced
2 TBSP. garlic, minced
1 cup soy sauce
1 cup water
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups. vegetable oil (for frying)
2 lb. flank steaks, sliced cross-grain, at an angle
1/2 cup cornstarch
3 large green onions

Make the sauce by heating 4 tsp. vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over medium/low heat.  Don’t get the oil too hot.  Add the ginger and garlic to the pan and quickly add the soy sauce and water before the garlic scorches.  Dissolve the brown sugar in the sauce, then raise the heat to medium and boil the sauce 2-3 minutes or until sauce thickens a bit.  Remove sauce from heat.

Slice the flank steak against the grain into 1/4 inch slices.  Tilt the blade of your knife at about a 45 degree angle to the top of the steak so you get wider cuts.  Dip the steak pieces into cornstarch to apply a thin dusting to both sides of each piece.  Let the beef sit until the cornstarch becomes sticky, about 10 minutes.  As the beef sits, heat up the oil in your wok or skillet until it is hot, but not smoking.  Add the beef to the oil and saute for just 2 minutes, or until beef just begins to darken on the edges.  Stir the meat around a little bit so that it cooks evenly.

After a few minutes, use a large slotted spoon to take the meat out and onto paper towels, then pour most of the oil out of the skillet.  Put the pan back over the heat, dump the meat back into it and stir-fry for 1 minute.  Add the sauce, cook for 1 minute while stirring and add green onions.  Cook for 1 more minute.    Thicken the sauce with a cornstarch-water mixture to desired thickness and serve it over rice.