Spicy Mongolian beef

This is my new favourite Asian cuisine and I’d love to be able to say that it’s from hours of slaving over a hot stove and endless experimentation.

That would be a whopping great lie!  This is actually a friend’s recipe and I’m stealing it shamelessly for myself!  Having served them my attempt at that old classic General Tso’s Chicken recently (the same recipe as on this site) they said “if you like that, then you’ll love my Mongolian beef recipe.”  I’m always up for trying something new and didn’t realise that both recipes have a similar origin story.

The only amendment I made to the recipe given to me was in reducing the amount of oil used in the wok (his recipe used twice as much, almost shallow-frying the beef, whereas I found that I preferred it with less oil, it just meant that I needed to pay more attention to stop it sticking).

I haven’t tried it yet, but he suggested it goes amazingly with lime and coriander rice, but I’ll definitely be giving that a go next time round!

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Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon of sesame oil
• 2¾ fluid ounces / 80ml light soy sauce
• large thumb of fresh ginger, grated
• 3 garlic cloves, finely sliced
• 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced
• 2 tablespoons of dark soft brown sugar
• 1lb 2 ounces / 500g rump steak, thinly sliced
• 1¾ ounces / 40g cornflour
• white pepper
• 3 tablespoons of groundnut oil
• 3 spring onions, finely sliced
• sesame seeds, to serve

Method

Mix the sesame oil, the soy sauce, ginger, garlic, chilli and sugar in a jug with 100ml of water and then transfer to a small saucepan.

Bring to the boil over a high heat, reduce to low-medium and simmer for 10 minutes until the sauce has reduced by about a quarter.

Meanwhile, toss your steak in a bowl with the cornflour and a good pinch of white pepper until it is coated all over.

Heat the groundnut oil over a high heat in a wok and then add the coated steak and toss for 4-5 minutes until cooked through. Stir continuously to stop the meat from sticking.

Add your sauce to the wok and stir fry for another 3 minutes until it’s thickened and glazed your beef, but you still have a good amount of sauce.

Serve with rice and a sprinkle of spring onions and sesame seeds.