Mongolian Beef: One of Our Most Popular Recipes! - The Woks of Life (2024)

FAQs

What is the difference between Szechuan beef and Mongolian beef? ›

Mongolian Beef can be described as having a savory soy-based sauce with scallions as its main aromatic. Szechuan Beef has a similar soy sauce-based profile but with the addition of a spicy element, such as fresh or dried chilis and/or Sichuan peppercorns for a numbing sensation.

Despite its name, the dish has nothing to do with Mongolian cuisine. Mongolian beef is among the meat dishes developed in Taiwan where Mongolian barbecue restaurants first appeared. Thus, none of the ingredients or the preparation methods are drawn from traditional Mongolian cuisine but rather from Chinese cuisine.

This is the KEY ingredient to super tender beef. Baking soda is commonly used in Chinese cooking to tenderize beef. If you're curious about the science behind it – baking soda neutralizes acid and raises the pH level, which causes the meat to become more alkaline.

Making the Mongolian Beef Sauce

Whisk the Mongolian Beef Sauce ingredients together consisting of soy sauce, water, brown sugar, Asian sweet chili sauce, rice wine, hoisin, pepper, sriracha and cornstarch.

In conclusion, Mongolian beef can be a healthy and nutritious dish when prepared with the right ingredients and cooking methods. It's a good source of protein, iron, zinc, and various vitamins and minerals.

In Chinese cooking, proteins like beef, pork or chicken are velveted first before stir-frying them. There are several ways to velvet, but at its most basic level, it involves marinating meat with at least one ingredient that will make it alkaline. This is what tenderizes the meat, especially cheaper, tougher cuts.

Mongolian beef is a Taiwan meal comprised of sliced beef, often flank steak, and onions. It's a basic stir fry of thin slices of beef cooked in a sauce of soy, brown sugar, garlic, and ginger.

Stir-Fried Spicy Beef (Previously: Mongolian Beef)

Sliced beef marinated in soy and then stir-fried with peppers and onions.

Less than a teaspoon of baking soda ensures that your steak remains juicy and tender—even after a speedy marinade. While other recipes demand hours of marinating, this baking soda hack makes a flank steak or any other fibrous cut of beef ready to sear after just an hour.

From there, leave it in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours or overnight. Then take the meat out of the container and rinse it ensuring that all—or most—of the baking soda is off the steak.

What does baking soda do to meat? ›

But baking soda tenderizes meat in a different way. Instead of breaking tissues down, the ingredient causes a chemical reaction to occur on the meat's surface, which stops the proteins from seizing up when cooked. This means the meat stays softer and juicier since the tightening that squeezes out liquid doesn't happen.

Deep and flavorful, our Mongolian Style BBQ Sauce can attribute its flavor profile to smoked black pepper, sweet molasses, soy sauce and garlic making this sauce versatile for marinades and as a finishing sauce.

Flank Steak: This Easy Mongolian beef recipe uses flank steak. Sirloin can be used too but we always opt for Flank Steak. Both cuts are tender and will cook up quickly when thinly sliced. I would steer clear of stew meat.

Hoisin sauce is a thick, fragrant sauce commonly used in Cantonese cuisine as a glaze for meat, an addition to stir fry, or as dipping sauce. It is dark-coloured, sweet and salty. Although regional variants exist, hoisin sauce usually includes soybeans, fennel, red chili peppers, and garlic.

Spices. Szechuan tends to be differing types of hot such as “hot and sweet” or “hot and sour.” The hotness also has a different tingly sensation due to the Szechuan peppercorn used. Mongolian tends to be mild and rarely uses spices. It is also has a lot more actual sauce typically than Szechuan.

Szechuan Beef is characterized by its bold, spicy, and numbing flavors, often derived from Szechuan peppercorns and chili peppers. Mongolian Beef, on the other hand, has a milder and sweeter flavor profile, with a balance of savory and sweet notes from ingredients like soy sauce and brown sugar.

The Spice Narrative:

While Szechuan cuisine is known for its numbing spiciness, Hunan dishes are celebrated for their pure, unbridled heat. This fiery character is attributed to the liberal use of fresh green chilies, dried red chilies, and shallots.