I remember the first time I tried Mongolian style beef. A new restaurant opened up just a couple miles from our house and we went there for dinner one night as a family. I think I was about 12 or 13 at the time?
I thought it was super fun because you got to pick out all your own meat, veggies, and sauces then you would give it to the cook and they would make it there right in front of you. Kind of like those hibachi grill type of places but different.
Now that I look back on it, I’m sure that those places are not true Mongolian style but it was fun none-the-less. It was also a great place for my mom to take the whole family for a decent price without having everyone fight over what they wanted to eat. We all got to pick our own stuff.
Anyway, today I’m bringing you my version of Mongolian Beef Stir-Fry. Thinly sliced flank steak is the star of the dish and stir-fried with fresh veggies until crisp in a soy based sauce.
Start by preheating your skillet over medium-high heat and letting warm for a few minutes. Add steak and cook for 5-7 minutes until just browned and slightly underdone for your taste. Remove from the pan to a clean plate for later.
While the steak is searing, you can make your sauce. Add the brown sugar, soy sauce, and rice vinegar to a small bowl and whisk to combine.
After removing the steak from the pan, heat remaining olive oil and add the chopped broccoli florets and red pepper slices. Cover and cook for a few minutes to steam and stir once or twice to cook evenly.
You want the veggies to be still crispy but not raw.
Pour the soy mixture over top of the veggies and stir to coat the veggies in the sauce. Continue cooking, without the lid, for 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally until the veggies are crisp tender and the liquid reduces by about half.
Add the steak back to the pan and stir to coat the steak in the sauce. Finish cooking for about 2-3 minutes to warm the steak through and combine all the flavors.
Remove from heat and top with green onions and sesame seeds while serving over a bed of rice. Don’t forget to spoon some of the sauce from the bottom of the pan over the top of the steak and rice – that’s the best part!
Mongolian Beef Stir-Fry
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp olive oil divided
- 1 1/2 lb flank steak thin sliced
- 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 4 Tbsp soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp rice vinegar
- 3 cups broccoli florets
- 2 red bell peppers sliced
- 3 cups white rice cooked
- 1/2 cups green onions sliced
- 2 Tbsp sesame seeds
Instructions
- In a large skillet, heat 1 Tbsp olive olive oil over medium-high heat.
- Add steak to skillet and cook for 5-7 minutes, until browned and slightly underdone to your taste. Remove steak from pan to clean plate.
- While steak is cooking, add brown sugar, soy sauce, and vinegar in a small bowl; whisk to combine.
- Heat remaining olive oil over medium-high heat and add broccoli and red peppers to pan. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, for 2-4 minutes.
- Add soy mixture, stir to coat veggies, and continue cooking for 5-6 minutes until veggies are crisp tender and liquid reduces by about half.
- Add steak, cook for 2 minutes to warm steak through and finish cooking to your liking.
- Remove from heat, top with green onions and sesame seeds. Serve over bed of rice.