Mongolian Beef

Mongolian Beef is a standard dish we order almost every time we go to a Chinese restaurant. So we decided we'd better just figure out how to make it ourselves. Thanks to my friend Google, we figured it out. We tried this on Tuesday. We found a store that sold the beef pre-sliced, which made the preparation easier. It turned out great.

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• ½ teaspoon ginger, minced
• 1 tablespoon garlic, chopped
• ½ cup soy sauce
• ½ cup water
• ¾ cup dark brown sugar
• vegetable oil, for frying (about 1 cup)
• 1 lb flank steak
• ¼ cup cornstarch
• 2 large green onions, cut into 2 inch sections
• ½ cup sliced white onion

Directions

Make the sauce by heating 2 tsp of vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Don't get the oil too hot. Add ginger and garlic to the pan and quickly add the soy sauce and water before the garlic scorches. Dissolve the brown sugar in the sauce, then raise the heat to about medium and boil the sauce for 2-3 minutes or until the sauce thickens. Remove it from the heat.

Slice the flank steak into ¼-inch thick bite-size slices. Dip the steak pieces into the cornstarch to apply a very thin dusting to both sides of each piece of beef. Let the beef sit for about 10 minutes so that the cornstarch sticks.

While the beef sits, heat up one cup of oil in a wok over medium heat until it's nice and hot, but not smoking. Add the beef to the oil and sauté for just two minutes, or until the beef just begins to darken on the edges. You don't need a thorough cooking here since the beef is going to go back on the heat later. Stir the meat around a little so that it cooks evenly. After a couple minutes, use a large slotted spoon to take the meat out and onto paper towels, then pour the oil out of the wok or skillet.

Put the pan back over the heat, dump the meat back into it and simmer for one minute. Add the sauce, cook for one minute while stirring, then add all the green and white onions. Cook for one more minute, then remove the beef and onions with tongs or a slotted spoon to a serving plate. Leave the excess sauce behind in the pan.

Serves 4