Name: Mongolian Beef {Yummy Healthy Way) Recipe
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 1lb steak, top round, sirloin, or flank; 1/4 tsp baking soda; 1/2 tbsp Shaoxing wine; 1 tbsp naturally aged soy sauce or dark soy sauce; 1 tsp Zhenjiang Vinegar; 1 tsp cane sugar, organic unrefined preferred; 1/4 tsp salt, Himalayan pink salt; 1 tbsp arrowroot flour; 2 tbsp canola oil; 2 tbsp avocado oil or other cooking oil; a small piece of ginger, about 10 g, organic preferred, thin sliced and minced; 1 green onion stalk, chopped; 1 tbsp naturally aged soy sauce or dark soy sauce; 2 tbsp light soy sauce; 1 tbsp minced garlic; 2 tbsp sugar, turbinado sugar or brown sugar; 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper; 1 tsp arrowroot flour; 1/4 cup water; 2 green onion stalks, chopped into long strips in diagonal; 1 small white onion, peeled and chopped

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Mongolian Beef is well-liked Chinese takeout food. With this recipe, you can quickly and easily make a juicy and yummy Mongolian Beef at home anytime you want. This better than takeout Mongolian Beef is perhaps the most cost-friendly and healthiest Mongolian Beef recipe out there.

Mongolian Beef {Yummy Healthy Way} — Mongolian Beef {Easy Yummy Healthy Way}

Why this is perhaps the most cost-friendly and healthiest Mongolian Beef Recipe?

I use a unique and effective marinating method that helps tenderize beef wonderfully. As a result, you can use a wide range of beef cuts, top rounds, sirloin, or flank. In other words, you can use much more budget-friendly beef to make this tasty food.

The enticing velvet look is from arrowroot flour, a superfood gluten-free starch. Arrowroot flour is from arrowroot, a tropical root native to Indonesia. They work just like regular starch with added additional powerful health benefits.

For example, they are high in protein, vitamins such as Vitamin B9, and minerals such as phosphorus, iron, and potassium.

Besides using a superfood as a starch ingredient, this recipe also uses significantly less oil and sugar, but use an old-fashioned way of marinating the beef to bring out the inherent beef yumminess.

Mongolian Beef Story

Some storytelling traces Mongolian beef origin to Genghis Khan and his calvaries. Frankly, I am a big fan of this version. Just imagine this – a group of brave and talented calvaries sat around a campfire at night enjoying a simple but tasty BBQ beef after a long day of battle in victory.

The truth, however, Mongolian Beef is another popular American-Chinese food. Never heard of it when I grew up in China. Nevertheless, it is incredibly delicious. No wonder it becomes one of the most popular Chinese food items in the western world.

What kind of beef cut is best for making Mongolian Beef?

For this recipe, you can use any type of steak, including top round, top sirloin, or flank steak. I use a unique marinating method that tenderizes the beef effectively.

Make sure you cut the beef across the grain into thin slices to maximize the tenderness.

When using a top round that has lots of bristles, separate them beforehand. Save those gristle parts to make a tasty beef broth later.

Separate bristles from top round beef for Stir Fry

How to Prepare the Beef for a juicy and delicious Mongolian Beef?

The secret to a yummy juicy Mongolian Beef is to prepare the beef properly. For the marinating, you will need a pinch of baking soda, along with Shaoxing Wine, Naturally Aged Soy Sauce, and a pinch of Zhenjiang vinegar. A bit of arrowroot flour and cooking oil such as canola oil helps lock in the beef’s moisture.

Read here for a detailed step-by-step tutorial on how to prepare beef for a tasty stir fry.

how to prepare and tenderize beef for cooking?

How to make a tender, delicious and healthier Mongolian Beef?

The first thing first is to cut the steak across the grain into thin slices

It is important that you cut the beef or steak across the grain into fairly thin slices. How thin it needs to be? Well, it is a fine balance of meaty flavor and texture vs. tenderness. A little under 1/4 inch would be great.

Tip No.2 is to soak the beef slices in cold water

This is to get rid of potential trapped blood, hence making the beef taste more refreshing. It also helps hydrate the beef slices. Soak for 10 minutes, rinse a few times, and then gently squeeze the beef slices to let out the extra water.

Soak beef slices in cold water for beef stir fry

Tip No. 3 is to marinate beef slices

Before you add the condiments to marinate the beef slices, mix the beef slices with a little bit of baking soda. Use 1/4 tsp for one pound of beef. Toss and mix well using a pair of bamboo spatulas, the same way you toss a salad. This is an old trick chefs around the globe often use to tenderize meat, especially beef.

So why does baking soda help tenderize the beef? What is the science behind this? Well, baking soda alkalizes the beef’s surface, therefore making it more difficult for the proteins to bond. As a result, beef stays tenderer when cooked.

Shaoxing wine and soy sauce do a wonderful job of further tendering and flavoring the beef slices. A pinch of Zhenjiang Vinegar enhanced the flavor and juiciness.

Tip No.4 is to use arrowroot flour and cooking oil to lock in the moisture of marinated beef slices

Arrowroot flour is my go-to gluten-free wholesome starch. They function just like the regular starch, but with the extra nutritional and health benefits. Add just enough to coat the marinated beef. Then add 2 tbsp cooking oil and mix well.

Tip No.5 is to sear the marinated beef slices in small batches in a non-stick pan

Sear marinated beef slices in small batch in a hard anodized fry pan — Sear or Brown the Beef Slices

Cooking beef slices in a small batch ensures beef slices are seared and browned quickly, which is the key to a juicy beef.

A quality hard-anodized fry pan is a must-have for cooking dishes like this. They are non-toxic, heavy-duty, and can handle high heat well without burning the food. They also boast impressive non-stick functions. I have searched for a healthy type of quality non-stick pan for a long time and am so glad I have found these.

Do not use cast iron to sear the beef slices. This is because a cast iron pan rarely has a non-stick function. They can pull the coating off the beef slices and dry the beef out.

Last but not least is making a best Mongolian Beef Stir Fry Sauce

Mongolian Beef Stir fry Sauce is coming from naturally aged soy sauce, light soy sauce, minced garlic, turbinado sugar (or brown sugar), freshly ground black pepper, and arrowroot flour. Simple whole ingredients, but do wonders to wrap the beef slices with mouth-watering flavor.

By the way, a compact food processor is a handy tool to help mince garlic.

Minced Garlic Using a Compact Food Processor

Mongolian Beef Frequently Asked Questions:

What is the most important thing to do for cooking the best Mongolian Beef?

Marinating the beef is one of the key preparation steps that ensure the juiciness and yumminess of the beef. Sear the beef on medium-high heat in a small batch in a quality nonstick fry pan is important to maintain the juiciness of the beef.

I plan to make this for a party. May I double the size of the recipe?

Absolutely. All ingredients can be proportionately 2x. Just remember you will need to sear the beef in multiple batches.

A 12-inch pan is great to sear about half-pound of beef at a time. We do not want the pan to get overly crowded for searing. Otherwise, it turns into boiling instead of searing.

Is it OK if I marinate the beef the night before and store it in the refrigerator?

Absolutely. This is a practice I often use when I am in a time crunch. I am amazed that the beef slices actually taste even tender and more flavorful. The overnight marinating helped enhance the flavor and taste even more.

Do you like this? Make sure you check out other popular dishes:

Kung Pao Chicken
Red Braised Pork Belly
Red Braised Lion’s Head {Pork Meatballs}

Mongolian Beef {Yummy Healthy Way) Recipe

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Mongolian Beef is well-liked Chinese takeout food. With this recipe, you can quickly and easily make a juicy, yummy, and healthier Mongolian Beef at home anytime you want.

Ingredients

1lb steak, top round, sirloin, or flank

Marinate the Beef:

1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tbsp Shaoxing wine
1 tbsp naturally aged soy sauce or dark soy sauce
1 tsp Zhenjiang Vinegar
1 tsp cane sugar, organic unrefined preferred
1/4 tsp salt, Himalayan pink salt
1 tbsp arrowroot flour
2 tbsp canola oil

Sear the Beef:

2 tbsp avocado oil or other cooking oil
a small piece of ginger, about 10 g, organic preferred, thin sliced and minced
1 green onion stalk, chopped

Mongolian Beef Stir Fry Sauce:

1 tbsp naturally aged soy sauce or dark soy sauce
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp minced garlic
2 tbsp sugar, turbinado sugar or brown sugar
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp arrowroot flour
1/4 cup water

For Garnishing

2 green onion stalks, chopped into long strips in diagonal
1 small white onion, peeled and chopped

Instructions

Marinating the Beef:

Cut the steak into about 1/4 inch thin slices across the grain in bite-size. When using a top round with lots of gristles, trim them first. , trim the gristle first. Semi-frozen beef is easier to cut into slices.
Soak the beef slices in cold water for 10 minutes and then rinse a few times to get rid of the trapped blood.
Gently squeeze the water out of the beef slices and place them into a mixing bowl.
Add baking soda into the mixing bowl, toss and mix well with the beef using a pair of wooden spatulas.
Add 1/2 tbsp Shaoxing wine, 1 tbsp regular (dark) soy sauce, 1 tsp Zhenjiang vinegar, 1 tsp sugar, 1/4 tsp salt, and toss well.
Add 1 tbsp arrowroot flour into the mixing bowl, toss and mix well. Last is to add 2 tbsp canola oil, toss and mix well and set aside.

Prepare the Herbs & Vegetables:

Prepare ginger, garlic, green onions, and white onion. Mince ginger into small pieces, and cut green onion on a diagonal. Peel white onion, cut horizontally into halves, and then cut vertically into 8 equal portions, then separate the layers.

A compact food processor is very handy to mince garlic and other herbs.

Preparing the Sauce:

Gather everything under the "For Mongolian Beef Stir Fry Sauce" section in a small bowl.
Add 1/4 cup and use a small whisk to mix well and set it aside.

Cooking:

Turn the heat to medium, and heat a hard-anodized frying pan for 1 minute.
Add 1 tbsp avocado oil, half of the ginger, and green onion under for "Sear the Beef" along with half of the marinated beef slices. Spread out the beef slices and try to lay them flat on the pan and cook for 5 minutes, or till the beef slices are cooked and caramelized. Flip and toss from time to time.
Remove from the pan using a slotted turner and place onto a plate.
Repeat #2 - #3 to cook the other half of the beef slices. You may not need the entire 5 minutes to cook the beef since the pan is much more warmed up by now compared to the first batch of beef. You may only need about 3 minutes.
Add the previously cooked beef slices back into the plan. Add garnishing vegetables green onion and white onion and stir fry for about 1 minute.
Re-mix the stir fry sauce quickly and pour over the beef in a circular motion. Immediately fold and mix the beef using a slotted turner for about 30 seconds, or till the sauce bubbles and thickens.
All done! Turn off the heat and serve immediately. Enjoy a super tender, delicious, and healthy Mongolian Beef.

Notes

For steak, top round, top sirloin, or flank steak shall all work. The marinating process in this recipe effectively tenderizes the meat.
The key to Chinese stir-fry is marinating meat before cooking. The actual cooking time is a mere few minutes. All the preparation must be done beforehand - the marinating of beef is a big part, then cutting & preparing all the herbs and vegetables, and preparing the sauce, etc.
I use arrowroot flour for all my starch needs since I jump-started healthier cooking a while back. They work just like any other starch. If you do not have arrowroot flour handy, use other starch you have.
For sugar, Turbinado Sugar, or "Sugar In the Raw" is my go-to meat cooking sugar. They have a penetrating pleasant taste and flavor due to the natural molasses they contain. They are large particles so they slowly melt and release into the food. You can substitute with dark brown sugar or light brown sugar.
For garnishing, other than white onion, garlic leaves, tender leeks, and green peppers are all excellent choices.
If you are cooking for a party, you may double the size of the recipe. Remember to sear the beef in small batches, about half a pound at a time. After all beef slices are seared, you can add them back to the frying pan and wrap them up with the sauce. A 12-inch frying pan can handle about 1 lb of beef slices with ease.