NOTE: This recipe also works with poultry too, to become: Mongolian Chicken or even Mongolian Turkey—if you can get turkey breast cut into thin slices.
Mongolian Beef
Ingredients:
—1 pound thinly sliced Beef (flank steak, sliced sirloin, or any beef will work)
—8 stalks of Green Onions
—6 cloves of chopped Garlic
—2 tablespoons chopped Ginger
—1/2 cup whole dried Red Chili Peppers
—1/2 cup Corn Starch
—1/4 to 1/2 cup Olive Oil
For The Sauce:
—5 tablespoons Hoisin Sauce
—3 tablespoons Soy Sauce
—2 tablespoons Oyster Sauce
—1 tablespoon Corn Starch
—2 tablespoons Vinegar (apple cider, rice wine, or white vinegar)
For The Rice:
—2 cups of Water
—1 cup White Rice
Directions:
In a small bowl place the Hoisin sauce, Oyster sauce, Soy sauce, vinegar, and corn starch. Stir together, and then set aside.
Measure 2 cups of water, pour into a covered pot, and bring to a boil. When the water boils, add the white rice, replace the lid, reduce the heat to the lowest setting. Allow to simmer for 20 minutes, and it should be perfect.
OK, now you have 20 minutes for the rest of the operation.
In a wok or frying pan place the first quarter cup of olive oil in the pan along with the green onions, garlic, and ginger. Sauté them until tender, and then remove them from the oil.
Place the half-cup of corn starch on a dinner plate or cutting board. Using your hands or a set of tongs, dredge the individual sliced strips of beef (or chicken, or turkey) through the corn starch until they are all covered with a sticky dusting of white corn starch.
Individually place the beef strips into the heated olive oil, and brown them, being careful to keep the majority of the corn starch intact. Ideally you want to aim for a brown crunchiness to the outside of the beef. If you need the extra half-cup of olive oil, you can add it as needed. If you have to the cook the beef in a couple of batches, that is fine, as everything is going to get a full re-heating before serving.
When all of the strips of corn starch-covered beef are brown, add to the still-hot wok or frying pan: the cooked beef, cooked green onions, ginger, and garlic. Then add the sauce, and the dried red chili peppers.
Gently stirring, mix everything together in the continuously hot wok or frying pan until the sauce thickens—about three minutes.
Serve this delicious Mongolian Beef dish atop the cooked white rice, which should be timed to be done at the same time. The contrast of this thick and sweet and spicy sauce is perfect with the white rice. The pre-frying dredge of corn starch on the raw beef strips assures that the spicy sauce sticks to every piece, and creates a delicious and rich taste that makes this one of the most popular beef dishes on Chinese menus. It has the magic trinity of Chinese brown sauces—Hoisin, Soy, and Oyster—so you can’t beat the exciting multi-layered taste!
NOTE: The Dried Red Chili Peppers: know that these peppers are very spicy hot. If they are intact or slightly broken, they will impart a definite spiciness to the dish. They are crucial for the spicy taste of Mongolian Beef. However, unless you know what you are doing: DO NOT EAT THEM. To test your tolerance to them, I suggest you nibble off a half an inch off the non-stem end, and see what you think. Most likely you will be delighted by their taste and colorful visual addition to the dish, yet you will avoid them on your plate.