These Mongolian beef bowls are easy to whip up midweek for those time when you feel like takeaways without the grease. Full of vegetables and delicious savoury sauce, this is great option for those busy weeknights. Mongolian beef is a Chinese-American creation and resembles little of Mongolian cuisine. Nevertheless, it is delicious. Bursting full of tender beef, the sauce should be savoury and rich with a little sweetness. In takeaway versions, this sauce can be quite salty and full of refined sugar. Here I’ve created my interpretation of this dish.
When researching the sauce, I found it can contain any number of ingredients with some recipes even adding MSG! So I striped it back to the classical Chinese ingredients: soy sauce, garlic, ginger, sesame oil. For the sweetness I added a teaspoon of manuka honey. Then to save time, I add all the sauce ingredients to a container, add the beef and toss. I then freeze the beef until the day I decide to make these bowls. Out comes the container for gentle defrosting, which magically marinates the beef at the same time! It helps get dinner on the table even faster, which is a bonus in my books!
You can serve these with steamed rice or noodles but I like the beef on top of a big bowl of lightly stir fried broccoli and bok choi. You can change up the vegetables, however I never seem to stray from the green combo of broccoli and bok choi. Leftovers pack well for lunches the next day too, but be sure to the double the recipe!
Ingredients
- 2x cloves garlic, minced
- 2cm fresh ginger, grated
- 4 tbsp dark soy
- 4 tbsp light soy
- 3 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp honey
- 300gm beef, diced
- 1/2 broccoli, cut into florets and blanched
- 2 x spring onions, sliced
- 1 tsp black sesame seeds to serve
Instructions
In a bowl, combine the garlic, ginger, soy sauces and sesame oil. Add the beef, toss to coat and leave to marinate for at least 30 minutes. Remove the beef from the marinade and put aside. In a small saucepan add the marinade and reduce until thick and glossy. While the sauce is reducing, heat a little oil in a wok. Add the beef and quickly fry. Add the broccoli and toss together with the reduced sauce. Serve with sliced spring onions and sesame seeds sprinkled over.
