Mongolian beef
Crisp-edged flank steak tossed in a sticky, sweet soy and ginger sauce with lots of green onions, better than the takeout.
- 30 min total
- 25 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $4.38 a serving
- 580 calories
- Good the next day
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1 lb flank steak
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
- 4 stalks green onions
- 2 packages microwave rice pouches, 8.8 oz pouches
From your pantry
- 3 tbsp cornstarch
- ⅓ cup soy sauce
- ⅓ cup brown sugar, packed
- ⅓ cup water
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
Each serving has about 580 calories, 30 g protein, 68 g carbs and 21 g fat, and costs about $4.38 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No flank steak? Skirt steak works.
- No green onions? Chives work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Slice the flank steak across the grain about ¼ inch thick, the dry, and with the cornstarch until every piece is coated.
Pat dry. Patting dry means pressing paper towels onto food to soak up the moisture on its surface. Wet food steams instead of browning, so this is how you get a good sear and crisp skin.
How you’ll know: The surface feels tacky, not wet, and the last paper towel comes away barely damp.
Slice. Slicing means cutting food into flat pieces of about the same thickness. Even slices cook evenly, so none are raw while others burn.
How you’ll know: Lay a few side by side: they’re close to the same thickness from one end to the other.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
Dolly’s tip: Slightly frozen flank slices much more easily. Give it 20 minutes in the freezer first.Stir the soy sauce, brown sugar and water together in a small bowl.
Heat the oil in a large over medium-high until it .
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Shimmering oil. Oil shimmers when it’s hot enough to cook: its surface looks rippled and wavy, like heat over a road. That’s your cue to add the food, just before the oil would start to smoke.
How you’ll know: The oil looks wavy and runs thin like water when you tilt the pan, with no smoke yet.
Medium-high heat
Fry the beef in one layer, in two batches, 2 minutes a side, until at the edges.
Crispy. Crispy means the outside is dry, firm and crunchy. It comes from high heat, a little oil and room in the pan, because crowded food steams and goes soft.
How you’ll know: It sounds crunchy when you tap or bite it, and it doesn’t flop when you lift it.
Medium-high heatTimer: 4 min
Dolly’s tip: Don’t crowd the pan. Each piece has to touch the hot oil to get that crisp coat.Food safety: Steak, pork chops and other whole cuts are safe at 145°F in the middle, then let them rest for 3 minutes before cutting.
Move it to a plate.
Spoon off all but 1 tbsp of the oil, turn the heat to medium, and stir the garlic, ginger and pepper flakes for 30 seconds, .
Fragrant. Fragrant means cooking until you can clearly smell it, usually garlic or spices, often in about 30 seconds. That’s the moment the flavor is ready, just before it can burn.
How you’ll know: You can smell it from a step back, and garlic is pale gold, not brown.
Medium heat
Pour in the sauce and 3 to 4 minutes, until it enough to coat a spoon.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Thicken. Thickening means cooking a sauce or soup until it’s less runny, by simmering it down or adding something like cornstarch. A thicker sauce clings to food instead of pooling on the plate.
How you’ll know: It coats the back of a spoon, and a line drawn through it with your finger holds its shape.
Medium heatTimer: 3 min 30 sec
Cut the green onions into 2-inch pieces, add them and the beef to the pan, and 1 minute, until everything is glossy.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
Medium heat
Heat the rice pouches in the microwave as the package says, and serve the beef over the rice.
Timer: 1 min 30 sec
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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