Mongolian Beef Sauce
Mongolian Beef that is easy to make but so good you will never want to order Chinese takeout again! This Mongolian Beef is bursting with wonderfully tender beef saturated in the most-lick-the-plate delicious, multidimensional sauce ever - all in a quick and easy stir fry!
Servings 4 -6
Ingredients
- 1 pound flank steak cut across the grain into 1/8" thin slices, then cut into 2” length pieces*
- 1 tablespoon reduced sodium soy sauce
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- vegetable or peanut oil
Stir Fry****
- 3 cups broccoli florets
- 1 red bell pepper thinly sliced then cut in half
- 2 green onions, chopped
- 6 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
Sauce
- 1/2 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1/4 cup Asian sweet chili sauce (like Mae Ploy)
- 2 tablespoons mirin/sweet Japanese rice wine or dry sherry
- 1 tablespoon quality hoisin sauce (Lee Kum Kee or Kikkoman)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1-2 teaspoons Sriracha/ Asian hot chili sauce
Garnish
- Green onons, chopped
Instructions
- Add beef to a large freezer bag along with 1 tablespoon soy sauce. Toss to evenly coat. Add 1/4 cup cornstarch and toss to evenly coat. Let sit at room temperature 30-60 minutes.**
- Whisk the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Heat 1-2 tablespoons vegetable oil or peanut oil a large nonstick skillet over HIGH heat until very hot and sizzling. Add half of the beef to the skillet in a single layer and sear 1 minute, flip over and cook 1 more minute minute (it will cook more in the sauce). Don’t overcook or it won’t be as tender! Transfer beef to a large plate and cover. Repeat***
- Add 1 tablespoon oil to the now-empty skillet; heat over high heat. Add the broccoli and saute for 30 seconds. Add 3 tablespoons water, cover pan, and lower heat to medium. Steam broccoli for 2 minutes.
- Push the broccoli to the sides of the skillet and add 1 teaspoon olive oil. Add bell pepper, green onions, garlic, ginger, and sauté with broccoli 1 minute.
- Return the beef to the skillet and toss to combine. Whisk the sauce to recombine then add to the skillet. Cook, stirring constantly, until the sauce is thickened, the beef is cooked and vegetables are crisp tender, about 1-2 minutes. Taste and add additional sriracha, sweet chili sauce, etc. if desired.
- Serve with rice and garnish with fresh green onions.
Video
Notes
Don't miss the "how to make" recipe video at the top of the post!
- *Beef is easiest to slice when partially frozen.
- **The 30-60 minutes tenderizes the beef but if you don’t have the time, you can still make the stir fry - still coat in soy/cornstarch and just skip the resting time.
- ****You can use any vegetables you would like in the stir fry and saute them with the red bell peppers EXCEPT if you are adding snow peas, add them after the sauce has thickened and cook them for about 1 minute or until crisp-tender.
- ****If you are only adding a few vegetables, you can increase the beef to 1 1/2 pounds and coat with 1 1/2 tablespoons soy and 6 tablespoons cornstarch.
- Use rice wine and NOT rice wine vinegar. I use “Kikkoman Aji-Mirin: Sweet Cooking Rice Seasoning” which is commonly found in the Asian section of most grocery stores or you can Amazon it. I highly suggest you google image before you head off to the grocery store so you know exactly what you are looking for.
How To Make Crispy Mongolian Beef
To make Crispy Mongolian Beef you are going to want to add more oil, so you are essentially frying your beef. Make sure you use a high smoking point oil such as vegetable oil.
- Fill the bottom of your pan completely with vegetable oil.
- Heat over high heat until it very hot smoking - the oil should sizzle if you flick water on it.
- Add beef in a single layer using tongs.
- Fry for 1 minute or until deeply golden.
- Flip beef strips over and fry another 1 minute or until deeply golden.