Mongolian Beef

It took me until I was an adult to appreciate the goodness of Asian food. Maybe it had something to do with Sweet and Sour Meatballs as a child, or the time I went to The Mandarin in Bountiful then threw up all night. I don't know. (BTW- I gave The Mandarin a second chance- amazingly yummy!) PF Changs? Sign me up!

In my quest to make yummy Asian food at home I came across this recipe for Mongolian Beef. So, so good! Add whatever vegetables you think sound good. I threw in some slivered carrots and snow peas. I made a pile of snow peas on the side of my plate, but the carrots were really good! This recipe is book-worthy!

(Bummer. This is not my photo.)

Mongolian Beef - 6 servings

2 lb of sirloin steak, thinly sliced crosswise
1/4 cup of cornstarch
3 teaspoons of canola oil
1/2 teaspoon of grated ginger
1 tablespoon of chopped garlic
1/2 cup of water
1/2 cup of soy sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 large green onions, sliced crosswise into thirds

First, make sure the steak slices are dry (pat them dry) and mix them with the corn starch. Using your hands or a spoon, move them around to make sure all pieces are coated. Place beef slices in a strainer and shake off excess corn starch.
Make the sauce:
Heat half of the oil in a large wok or flat pan at medium-high and add the garlic and ginger. Immediately add the soy sauce, water and brown sugar. Cook the sauce for about 2 minutes and transfer to a bowl. Don't worry if the sauce doesn't look thick enough at this point. The corn starch in the beef will thicken it up later. 
Cook the meat and assemble dish:
Turn the heat up and add the remaining oil to the pan. Add the beef and cook, stirring until it is all browned (this is a quick thing). Add any vegetables. Pour the sauce back into the wok and let it cook along with the meat. Now you can choose to cook it down and reduce the sauce or leave it thinner. Add the green onions on the last minute so the green parts will stay green and the white parts crunchy.
Serve it hot with rice.