My daughter lately has become a great fan of Asian food. So, she started to cook once a week for us, which – I admit – I appreciate very much as it is a day off from cooking for me.
If you like “Beef Sichuan” you will love this dish as well. Compared to the latter, the Mongolian beef is a bit sweeter. Originally there are no vegetables or chili pepper added, but my daughter wanted to make it a bit more spicy and it turned out really yummy! As vegetable you can add bell-peppers and zucchini.
I recommend flank, sirloin or round as meat. Just ask your butcher which meat he would recommend for short frying and which one is economic for you – it does not has to be the most expensive piece, like the filet. Most important is that it is soft when cooked.
It is not necessary to add salt or pepper as the soy sauce is quite salty and the ginger and chili pepper makes it hot enough. If you do not like chili peppers replace with black pepper. I even recommend grounded Sichuan pepper, as it fits well with its sweet and peppery taste.
What you need:
1 kg beef
¼ cup corn starch
3-4 Tbsp sesame oil
2 bell-peppers (red and yellow)
½ cup soy sauce
½ brown sugar
¼ cups of water
2 garlic cloves
1 tsp fresh ginger (appr. thumb size)
1 chili pepper
greens of scallions
Sesame seeds
How to prepare:
Cut the meat in thin slices (appr. 5cm long and 1 cm thick). Add the meat into a plastic bag with zipper, add the corn starch and shake well until the meat is well covered with the starch.
Cut the bell-pepper into thin stripes.
In a large, deep pan heat the sesame oil on medium heat. Add the bell-pepper and fry until soft. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Add the meat and fry for approximately 5-8 minutes until the meat took slightly brown color from each side. Eventually add some more oil. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Mix the soy sauce, brown sugar and the water.
Peel and grate the ginger, chop finely the garlic. Remove the seeds from the chili pepper and chop finely. Add everything to the liquid and mix well.
Add the sauce to the pan, increase the heat and let cook until thickened.
Add the meat and the bell pepper, stir and let cook for 3-4 minutes until the meat is glazed with all the sauce.
Chop the green of some scallions into rings and sprinkle over the meat. Sprinkle some sesame seeds and serve with aromatic cooked rice.