Super crispy pieces of beef coated in a sweet salty sauce = heaven in the form of a stir fry. PF Chang’s copycat – done right! Marinating the beef is key for packing in great flavour into every single bite.
This recipe is similar to Honey Pepper Beef Stir Fry – with the addition of the crispy beef!
Mongolian Beef
I cannot get enough of this Mongolian Beef. I am obsessed!
PF Chang’s is an Asian themed restaurant chain in the US. They seem to be everywhere – and it’s wildly popular. Because of its sheer popularity, I had to try it when I was in the US. I actually didn’t mind the Chow Mein that my friend got, but personally I found the Mongolian Beef too sweet and too oily.
I didn’t get it. I couldn’t understand what all the fuss was about, and why America is so obsessed with Mongolian Beef! Every single other food on my “must try” list that I had on my US foodie road trip was a home run. But Mongolian Beef? Disappointing.
But knowing how popular it is, I tried it again at a Chinese restaurant in LA. I had too, I was curious. This time, I scored! I understood! Made properly, it is absolutely addictive. Dangerously so.
What is Mongolian Beef – and what does it taste like?
For the Australians reading this, Mongolian Beef is similar to what we know as Szechuan Style Beef and Peking Beef. Thin slices of beef that is shallow fried so it’s super crispy then tossed in a sticky sauce.
It’s different to what we know as Mongolian Lamb which is not fried or crispy, and the sauce is not as sweet.
It’s the combination of crispy and sticky that makes Mongolian Beef SO good. See how thick and caramel-like the sauce is? The photo on the right is when the sauce is bubbling away, thickening and coating the beef. Heaven in a pan, that’s what this is. 🙂
Did you notice that I made it in a skillet instead of a wok? To tell you the truth, normally I make it in a wok but I wanted to try it in a skillet too so I could provide directions for that.
It’s easier made in a wok because you can shallow fry the beef in the wok. But if you don’t have a wok, I recommend frying the beef in a small saucepan instead because the beef is cooked with only 1/4 cup of oil. If you use a skillet, then the oil spreads too thinly and you won’t get the same crispiness. After the beef is cooked, finish the rest of the recipe in a skillet. Easy!
In the crispy / sticky stakes, I have to say that this is right up there with Buffalo Wings. That is to say, if someone put a plate of this and a plate of Buffalo Wings in front of me, I am not entirely sure which one I would go for.
Actually, I do know. Probably both at the same time. 🙂
– Nagi x
PS I got side tracked and forgot to mention that I tried a few recipes I found on a mission to get the closest match to the Mongolian Beef I had at a Chinese restaurant in LA, not PF Chang’s which I didn’t enjoy very much. A few were close, but didn’t nail it. This recipe is from a blog called Woks of Life which is run by a Chinese family who used to run a Chinese restaurant in America. It’s my “go to” source for American Chinese recipes. Every single recipe I have tried has been an absolute ripper. Honestly!
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Crispy Sticky Mongolian Beef recipe video!
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Crispy Sticky Mongolian Beef
Ingredients
Beef and Marinade
- 8 oz / 250g beef steak (rump, scotch or flank), sliced into 1/5" / 3mm slices (Note 1)
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp cornstarch/cornflour
- 1 tsp vegetable oil
Sauce
- 2 tsp cornflour / cornstarch
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 tbsp soy sauce (light or all purpose, NOT dark)
- 1/4 cup chicken broth
- 1 1/2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine or dry sherry, or more chicken broth (Note 2)
- 3 tbsp / 1/4 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
Crispy Beef
- 1/4 - 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil (Note 1)
- 1/4 cup cornstarch/cornflour
Stir Fry
- 1/2 tsp ginger, finely minced
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 scallions/shallots, cut into 1 1/2" / 4cm pieces on the diagonal
Instructions
Beef and Marinade
- Combine the Beef and Marinade ingredients in a bowl and marinate for 10 minutes (though you could even leave it overnight).
Sauce
- Mix the cornstarch with a splash of the water. Then add the remaining Sauce ingredients, including remaining water.
Crispy Beef and Stir Fry
- Add 1/4 cup cornstarch and use your fingers to lightly coat the beef.
- Heat 1/4 cup oil in a wok (Note 2) over medium high heat. Add 1/2 the beef and cook the first side for around 45 seconds or until golden and crisp. Then flip (I use an egg flip) and cook the other side for 30 - 45 seconds until golden and crisp. Remove onto a paper towel lined plate. Repeat with remaining beef.
- Discard the oil, leaving behind about 1 tablespoon in the wok.
- Add the ginger and garlic and sauté for about 15 seconds. Don't let it burn!
- Add the Sauce into the wok. Bring it to a simmer and let it cook for about 1 1/2 minutes or until it thickens into a glossy sticky sauce.
- Add the beef and scallions, toss to coat and cook for a further 30 seconds.
- Serve immediately with rice - or for a low carb, low cal option, try Cauliflower Rice!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
LIFE OF DOZER
That time I washed all his toys…
Can this be frozen?
Love this recipe. I up scale it by four to do the whole family and it never fails to please. Thanks Nagi.
Very, Very good. Don’t change a thing.
Great recipe! any tips on how to reheat this, once cold? Due to the cornflour it goes all cluggy
Thanks for another winner, Nagi! I used scotch fillet, and added snow peas, onions and capsicum to up the veggie intake quotient. Used a 16cm saucepan with around 3cm of rice bran oil in the bottom to cook/brown the beef in batches. I used 650g beef and so tripled the sauce (to also cover the veggies). Our family loves rainbow beef so this will remain on our ‘favourites’ rotation.
Amazing dish as always Nagi! You are truly the best at bringing love to the table ❤️
I made this with Meet vegan ‘beef’ strips, and stuff I had in the cupboard – some fake soy sauce seasoning which contained wheat and flavouring instead of soy, but smelt like soya sauce, onion powder instead of onions, ginger powder instead of ginger. Chicken stock was vegetarian stock. The only accurate ingredients I used was the sugar and corn flour. still came out brilliant!
Nagi this was the absolute best Mongolian beef I’ve ever eaten in my life! I’m not joking! Thank you for always taking the time to give step by step instructions and a video for those of us who can’t remember what we just read 😝. Your explanations of why you do certain things makes all the difference too. I have learnt so much from you already, I think I’ve made about 20 of your recipes so far and every single one has been a complete success. A huge THANK YOU! 🙏
Simply phenomenonal, restaurant quality at home!
Can anyone tell me why my beef looked crispy when fried but went super soggy in the sauce? Has anyone else had this?
Another hit, Nagi! First time making Mongolian Beef and it was loved by all!
Loved this for a weeknight meal. Added some extra veggies after meat was first cooked. Sauce was superb!
Great tasting recipe. Love the simplicity.
Love all your recipes I have tried.
Thank you!
This was a HUGE hit last night with dinner guests, and my partner asked that it be added to the regular meal rotation.
I later asked partner if this would be better with a bit of sriracha to punch up the spiciness and drop the sweetness, and was told Do Not Change A Thing No No No Not Ever No No No.
I think that’s a no?
In case you are interested, I make this a lot. I cut the quantity of sugar to 2 tbs and add 1 chopped red birds eye chilli when I fry the garlic and ginger. This works out really well, is a tad less sweet but has the little hit of spice. Sauce is still lovely and sticky. I also stir fry some sliced green beans and red capsicum before I add the sauce (but this is just to give some veggie content).
Amazing recipe again I don’t make this kind of stuff but was a surprise for every one.
Made this tonight, haven’t enjoyed a meal like this in a long time. Best Mongolian beef ever!
Wow another beauty. I used skippy instead of beef and added some chillies.
What is “skippy”, please?
Probably kangaroo meat. “Skippy” is an iconic Australian TV show from the 80s(?) starring a kangaroo whose name was Skippy.
Delicious
Other than it being a hare salty, it was great. The saltiness I will blame on the reg soy sauce that my other have bought instead of low sodium.. I added a pepper as well as extra onion. TU for the recipe.
So good! I didn’t have enough cornflour for the crispy step but it was still amazing and a hit with the family.
Perfect sweet level
This recipe is always really good, I recently had to up the portion sizes to 9 people and went down so fast it was gone from the pan onto plates before I could blink, everyone loved it. I did have to put the glazing sauce into a paella pan to reduce it to a glaze/sauce consistency because it was too much for a frypan or wok, worked beautifully.