Monday, January 2, 2012

MONGOLIAN BEEF

Juicing regularly, we travel to a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia every couple of weeks because there is a mammoth vegetable market there.  They have a gigantic selection, including bitter melon, which is reputed to be good for controlling elevated blood sugar.

This suburb is rich with ethnic diversity. Along the road we spot Korean, Chinese and Pakistani signs to name just a few.

We route this trip to coincide with a tutoring assignment, but the client cancels; so we have extra time and after loading the vegetables in our vehicle we decide to get some lunch.

We visit a Chinese restaurant in the neighbourhood and are the only Non-Orientals in the place. A group of men at a round table are speaking Chinese and eating noodles with chopsticks. You have to specifically request a table fork.

The walls are adorned with Chinese characters mixed with English translations. They have fish head soup, ox tail noodle soup, duck feet hot pot, duck tongue and foods I have never encountered before.

There is a wide selection of dim sum. We order some pork and shrimp dumplings, mongolian beef and sesame chicken. Everything is fine but I am impressed with the mongolian beef. Thin slices of beef with onion shreds and finger length pieces of bright green scallions in a sweet sauce flavoured with hoisin sauce. It is so good that my BW, the Education Tipster, insists I make it at home. And its notability demands such.

Since this dish is so deceptively easy to prepare, yet tantalizingly delicious; I get the groceries and make it, and we love it. If you’ve never tried this Chinese dish, I humbly recommend it, for its ease of preparation and wonderful taste. Here is how to prepare it.

Mongolian Beef                                Serves two

Ingredients

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 pound of thinly sliced beef (top round, chuck or flank steak). Slice on the bias and pound with a mallet to increase thinness, and then cut into bite size slices.

8 green onions (scallions, trimmed and cut into 2 inch lengths)
4 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
1 small or medium onion, sliced into slivers
1 carrot shredded broadly

Make a marinade of:
1 teaspoon of Oriental sesame oil
1 tablespoon of cornstarch
½ teaspoon salt
1 egg white
Combine all and add the beef, stir well to coat thoroughly and let sit for 30 minutes

Make a sauce of:
1 teaspoon minced gingerroot
3 tablespoons of Hoisin sauce (Chinese condiment)
2-3 tablespoons of water
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar (or sherry, marsala or Scotch whisky)
¼ teaspoon Oriental chile paste
1 teaspoon sugar
Combine everything and set aside


Method

Heat skillet or wok hot and add the oil. As it begins to smoke, add the beef and stir to separate. Working rapidly, make a well in the centre and add the green onions, white onion slivers, carrot shreds and the garlic. Stir well.

Stir and add the sauce mixture to the skillet.
When the sauce comes to boiling stir, shut off the flame, stir for a few moments and serve with steamed rice.

That’s it. Enjoy Mongolian Beef soon, you’ll want it often.


43 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

You said the magic word - Mongolian! I'm copying this one down.

Shutterbug said...

i've had mongolian beef before! it's gooood!

Torviewtoronto said...

this looks really good delicious presentation Happy new year

Eat To Live said...

You made my mouth water with that picture. So yummy looking. I could almost lick my computer!!

LoLy said...

What a Delish, Thanks for sharing & Happy New Year :)

LoLy said...

What a Delish, Thanks for sharing & Happy New Year :)

Dawn@Lighten Up! said...

This does not look hard, you're right, and yet seems like it would be. Thanks!!

anthony stemke said...

ALEX: You will love it all, the ease of preparation and the taste.

SHUTTERBUG: I agree with you.

TORVIEWTORONTO: Thank You, hope you and your family have a great 2012.

MY JOURNEY WITH CANDIDA: The
actual dish will taste far superior,you'll see. Thank You for calling.

LOLY: You're welcome, please enjoy.

DAWN@LIGHTENUP: The taste belies its ease of preparation. I'm happy that you like it.

LoLy said...

Yaaaaaaaaay, I am new in the blogging thing and I just noticed that u r my only and #1 follower :D Thank you :p

Anonymous said...

I love the mongolian beef and broccoli at P.F. Changs. Never tried to make it myself. Its the sauce that I'm not good at. But now is as good of time as any to try. Thanks for the recipe and have a great 2012!

Unknown said...

Happy New Year to you too--Anthony!!
Mongolian Beef.... Hmmm I may have had this dish at a Chinese takeout and it was delicious with loads of scallions.. your creation looks absolutely stunning!!

Golden Eagle said...

I love Chinese food--but I've never had Mongolian Beef. I'll have to check this one out!

Happy New Year!

Al Penwasser said...

Looks delicious! Thank goodness this beef isn't prepared in the traditional Mongolian way. Didn't the Mongols sit on their beef to warm it up instead of actually cooking it?

Anonymous said...

Thank you, thank you, thank you.
I'm writing my grocery list. Now I just need a day off.

anthony stemke said...

LOLY: I don't know what :d and :p mean but you are welcome.

STEPHEN TREMP: You can peurchase a jar of Hoisin sauce at almost any supermarket. And Thanks good 2012 to you as well.

MALLI: Sounds like you have tried it. Appreciate your kind words.

THE GOLDEN EAGLE: It's basic and simple and delish, you will love it too.

AL PENWASSER: Not quite Al - what they did was, they placed it on their horse beneath the saddle and rode it all day and then they... ...No wait a minute, isn't that how they made yoghurt?

GENE POOL DIVA: Is that all? Okay, take tomorrow off!

nutschell said...

I love mongolian beef, but I always seem to have mine at the mall(which I'm guessing is not as good as this home cooked recipe.) Thanks for sharing and a happy new year to you!
Nutschell
www.thewritingnut.com

anthony stemke said...

NUTSCHELL: If you like the version at the mall thats good.
Wish you a great 2012.

Dawn @ Words Of Deliciousness said...

Your mongolian beef looks and sounds delicious. I have never eaten it before, but I will have to give it a try.

anthony stemke said...

WORDS OF DELICIOUSNESS:
Please do give it a go, you will enjoy it.

Anonymous said...

Hi, Anthony! Mongolian Beef is yummy. I've never made it myself, but your recipe sounds easy enough, that I will give it a try. I'll probably substitute Stevia for the sugar and brown rice for the steamed rice.

Have a wonderful 2012!

anthony stemke said...

NATURAL ONE: I am glad that you lie it too.

SUSANNE DRAZIC: Hi, brown rice is good and so is Stevia or xylitol.
Best wishes for 2012 to you.

Misha Gerrick said...

Hmmm... I haven't been to a Chinese restaurant in over a year. Weird, given that I love Chinese cuisine. I better do something about this. ;-)

Chaton T. Turner said...

I'm salivating! I don't eat beef, but do plan to make it with chicken sometime!

anthony stemke said...

MISHA: .I love oriental food a lot. We live out in the boondocks but there are two Chinese and one Thai restaurant nearby. Plus I have a big pantry, cook it often.

CHATON: Please make it with chicken, I bet it will still be good.

Liz That Skinny Chick Can Bake said...

This sounds amazing! I know my family would love it, too...copying to try soon.

Jolene Perry said...

husband is drooling on my keyboard ;-D

Asmita said...

Wow, I have to make this one. My husband and I both love Mongolian beef. Delicious!!!
www.compulsivefoodie.com

walk2write said...

Sounds great! I have some lean beef in the freezer that needs a good recipe. Your post about the Stollen brings back a lot of memories. That bread was always part of my mom's Christmas morning menu (in my opinion the best part).

Margo Kelly said...

and ... now ... I'm hungry!! I love Mongolian Beef. YUM!!

anthony stemke said...

LIZZY DO: I'm happy to hear that, I know you'll love it.

JOLENE: Uh oh, paper towel and windex might be needed. cm

ASMITA: You will appreciate the simplicity and flavour of this classic. Thanks for calling.

WALK2WRITE: I know what you mean about stollen memories; I remember from way back when I was a child what a treat it was, especially with that filling. Happy to hear you relate that.

MARGO: I'm with you. I love maing it and eating it.

Sarah said...

wow... u r already juicing... that's wonderful.. i couldnt keep up with it... got tempted with regular food esp during the festive season... but will try to at least replace one meal with juice... love the mongolian beef... it sure looks juicy :)

anthony stemke said...

SARAH: Yeah, we visited daughter during Christmas and did not juice then. It was a disaster, we both (that is, The Education Tipster and I) gained weight.
Getting back on track now.
The mongolian beef is great.

Ella said...

I so enjoyed your post! Thank you for sharing~ I now want some :D
Going to add some of these items to my chalk board list.
Happy New Year!

Stephanie said...

Thanks for this I will try it. I was very inspired by Chinese cooking when I was there. Chicken feet were surprisingly good!

Joanne said...

This Is the second time I have read about bitter melon...I have to try it. Thanks!
Blessings, Joanne

anthony stemke said...

ELLA: Thank you for those kind words and Happy New Year to you.

STEPHANIE: I'm sure Chinese food in China is a lot different than what we see here. But I'm a little squeamish about some things.

JOANNE: One of my chinese cookbooks says that the chinese people revere bitter melon. It is bitter when I juice it, must add fruit to temper the bitterness.

Miriam said...

That sauce sounds excellent! I bet it would be fantastic over noodles too...
Have a wonderful day!!
Miriam@Meatless Meals For Meat Eaters

Unknown said...

loved the recipe...bookmarking it :-)

http://onlyfishrecipes.blogspot.com/

Susan Oloier said...

We have a horrid Chinese restaurant in our town, so it makes my mouth water to hear of a good one.
Happy New Year!

anthony stemke said...

MIRIAM: It would be fantastic over noodles. Thanks.

SONALI PRADHAN: I'm happy to hear that, Thanks.

SUSAN OLOIER: You can easily make Mongolian Beef at home Susan and skip the horrid establishment. Thanks for calling; my best to Zane.

Unknown said...

New year wishes to you. Few of my friends have tried this mongolian beef at nearby restaurent. As we don't eat beef, we ordered some chicken dishes. your writeup reminded me those wonderful moments with friends. I am going to pass on this recipe to my friends. it is really simple.

anthony stemke said...

UMA: Some people don't eat beef, some don't eat pork, but I suppose nobody doesn't eat chicken.
When those oriental gents were at that round table they were talking back and forth rapidly; but when their bowls arrived it got very quiet for a couple of minutes.
Dining among friends is a most wonderful experience.
Have a great 2012 Uma.

Leovi said...

Beautiful name, I like to try.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...