easy mongolian beef

I had never heard of Mongolian Beef before until we had it at PF Chang’s here in Riyadh but it is delicious!  Obviously not an authentic Chinese dish and most definitely not Mongolian, but delicious nonetheless.  Basically it is thinly sliced flank steak and green onions in a sweet soy glaze. Yum!  This is the third time I’ve tried making it and this time not only was it the easiest with the least amount of steps and ingredients but also the best flavour.

At PF Chang’s the beef is most definitely shallow or deep fried to make it really crispy but I decided to keep it a bit on the healthier side by just stir-frying.  (If you’d like to get the beef super crisp though, you can fry in, I would say, about 1 cup of canola oil and then drain the excess oil before adding the sauce.).

Marinated beef: 500 grams flank steak / 2 tbsp cornstarch / 1 tbsp soy sauce / 1 tbsp cold water

4 cloves of garlic, minced / 1 bunch of green onions – just the green leaves, cut into thirds lengthwise / 2 tbsp canola oil / 1/4 cup soy sauce / 1/4 cup light brown sugar

Cut the steak thinly against the grain of the beef.  In a medium bowl, combine the sliced beef, and the cornstarch, cold water and 1 tablespoon of soy sauce so that the beef is throughly coated.  Cover with clingfilm and set in the fridge for 30 minutes to 1 hour to marinate.

In the meantime, simply mix together the 1/4 cup soy sauce and brown sugar in a small bowl for the sauce and set aside.

In a large wok or frying pan, heat up the oil on medium-high heat.  Add the beef and half of the green onion.  Stir-fry, letting the beef develop some crispier brown bits by not stirring constantly.  When the beef is almost cooked through, add in the minced garlic and stir-fry.

Pour in the soy and brown sugar sauce and stir until it’s thickened up and glossy.  The cornstarch from the beef marinade will cause it to thicken.

Toss in the remaining green onion, remove from the heat and plate up!  I like to serve this with some jasmine rice and just some simple steamed broccoli.

beef with simple béarnaise sauce

Lately I’ve taken to watching clips from the old school Nigella Lawson cooking shows on Youtube right before bed.  Her early series were just the best and turns out she’s very soothing to watch before going to sleep.  One of the clips I watched was for her mom’s beef with a simple béarnaise sauce that she said is what she would eat for her last meal on earth.  Well, I’m sold.

I couldn’t find the recipe online and she doesn’t mention measurements in the video but I did find a different version of her recipe and I just kind of meshed that with the clip and then adapted it to what ingredients I have.  This is not a truly authentic béarnaise sauce but, especially while in quarantine, I’m perfectly fine with having a simplified recipe that requires less steps and less ingredients.  Plus the sauce turned out sooo good.  I just want to pour it over everything!  Ideally, you have some fresh tarragon to chop up and add to the sauce at the end, but I didn’t and I still feel like it was excellent.

Bearnaise sauce: 3 large egg yolks / 2 tbsp white wine or apple cider vinegar / 1 and 1/2 tsp dried tarragon / 16 tbsp (226 grams) unsalted butter, cut into roughly 1/2 inch cubes / juice of 1/2 a lemon / sea salt to taste

Beef: ~ 500 grams top rump steak, about 1 inch thick (to be honest I don’t even know what cuts of beef I used because the shop here doesn’t always label the beef accurately.  Just get what you like!) / olive oil / sea salt

Using a double boiler or a medium metal bowl set over a pot of simmering water (don’t let the water touch the bottom of the bowl!), add the egg yolks, tarragon and vinegar.

Start whisking and as you whisk continuously, add 1 cube of butter at a time – don’t stop whisking! – until you have added all of the butter.

Remove from the heat and add the lemon juice and salt to taste.

Heat up a large frying pan over medium-high heat.  Brush the beef with olive oil on both sides and place in the pan.  Cook for 2 minutes on one side and then flip and let it cook another 2 minutes on that side.  The steak will be about medium-rare – if you want it more well done then cook for a bit longer on each side.

Let the beef rest on a cutting board for a few minutes and in the meanwhile, season with some salt.  Slice the beef and plate and then spoon the béarnaise sauce over top.