Tender beef stir-fry tossed in a savory slightly sweet sauce, this Mongolian Beef is a Chinese takeout classic that you can now recreate in the comfort of your own home!

What is Mongolian beef?

Mongolian beef is a classic stir-fried beef dish quintessential to Chinese takeaway. Although the name refers to the dish as Mongolian, it doesn’t have any ties to Mongolian cuisine.

Instead, it was created in Taiwan during the 1950s when Chinese BBQ was trending. Thus the name, as the dish refers to the Mongolian barbecue style of cooking which, like this dish, is cooked quickly and over high heat.

All in all this dish is made up of stir-fried beef strips in a sweet and savory sauce, typically served over a bed of white rice. A classic that finds its way onto every Chinese restaurant menu.

What cut of beef should I use?

When cooking Chinese stir-fries typically a cheaper cut of beef is used. This cut is then thinly sliced and velveted for the best texture. Velveting is a Chinese cooking technique that tenderizes the beef so that it is juicier and softer in texture.

For this recipe, I recommend using a cut like flank, topside, or rump. Make sure you thinly slice the beef and prepare it as per the velveting beef recipe here. This recipe will help you prefer perfectly tender beef for this dish!

Ingredients

Beef

• Velveted beef: Velveted beef helps to give the beef a soft and tender texture. Make sure you follow this recipe here for the best results! You’ll need to start the velveting process the day before.
• Canola oil: Chinese cooking uses quite a lot of oil as the protein is usually flash-fried. If you want a healthier version feel free to reduce the oil to a couple tablespoons and stir-fry the beef instead.

Sauce

• Hoisin sauce: Hoisin sauce makes up a large part of the flavor of Mongolian beef, don’t use too much otherwise it’ll overpower the rest of the flavors
• Ground bean sauce: Aka doubanjiang is a fermented chili bean paste, you should be able to find this in the sauce aisle of your Asian grocery.
• Sesame paste: Very similar to tahini, this is made out of ground sesame seeds. This adds a nutty flavor to the dish.
• Shaoxing cooking wine: Cooking wine is important when cooking meat as it removes any odors it may have.
• Garlic: Finely chopped garlic adds flavor to the dish, you can use fresh garlic cloves or rehydrated dried garlic.
• YumYum: My seasoning powder has a blend of white pepper, salt, and MSG, adding a delicious umami flavor to the dish. If you don’t have YumYum you can buy it here or replace it with MSG.
• Sugar: Sugar adds sweetness to this dish, balancing out the other salty flavors for a delicious sauce.
• Water: Water helps to thin out the sauce so it can coat the beef
• Dark soy sauce: While dark soy sauce does give a little flavor, it is mostly there to give the beef a darker color.
• Spring onion: Spring onions give this dish a pop of green and a fragrant flavor
• Onion: If you’re using a sizzling plate the onion goes on first as a bed for your beef stir fry. It’ll cook during this process. Otherwise, you can toss it through the dish like the spring onion.

How to cook Mongolian Beef

Heat a large wok with the oil over high heat until approx 180C/350F and cook for 3-4 minutes until cooked through.

Strain the beef from the oil and set it aside. Leave the leftover oil to be used next time you cook. Then heat the empty wok over high heat, combine the sauce ingredients, and cook until combined.

Add the beef, spring onion, and onion (if you’re not using a sizzling plate) and toss to combine. Then top your sizzling plate with onion and serve the beef. If not serving on a sizzling plate simply serve the beef on a plate.

Mongolian Beef

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Print Recipe

Tender beef stir-fry tossed in a savory slightly sweet sauce, this Mongolian Beef is a Chinese takeout classic that you can now recreate in the comfort of your own home!

• Total Time: 30 minutes
• Yield: 2 Servings 1x

Ingredients

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Beef

• 300g Velveted beef (follow recipe here)
• 1 1/2 cups Canola oil

Sauce

• 1 tbsp Hoisin sauce
• 1 tbsp Ground bean sauce, aka doubanjiang
• 2 tsp Sesame paste
• 2 tsp Black bean chili sauce, or chili oil if you don’t have that on hand
• 1 tbsp Shaoxing cooking wine
• 2 tsp Garlic, finely chopped
• 1/2 tsp YumYum, aka MSG
• 1/2 tsp Sugar
• 2 tbsp Water
• 1/4 tsp Dark soy sauce
• 1 Spring onion, cut into 4cm stalks
• 1/2 Brown onion, thinly sliced

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Instructions

1. Heat the oil in your wok or frypan over high heat
2. Add the beef and cook for 3-4 minutes, or until cooked through
3. Strain the beef from the oil and set the oil aside to be used for next time
4. (If you’re using a sizzling plate to serve, place your sizzling plate in the heat of your wok burner)
5. In your empty wok or fry pan combine the hoisin, ground bean sauce, sesame paste, black bean chili, Shaoxing wine, garlic, YumYum, sugar, water and dark soy
6. Cook the sauce, stirring until well combined and bubbling
7. Add the beef, onion, and spring onion to the sauce and toss until combined
8. Serve with a side of white rice and enjoy
9. (If you’re using a sizzling plate add the raw onion directly onto the heated sizzling plate and serve the stir-fried beef over the top)

• Author: Vincent Yeow Lim
• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 15 minutes
• Category: Beef
• Method: Easy
• Cuisine: Chinese

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1 portion
• Calories: 560
• Sugar: 7.6 g
• Sodium: 685.9 mg
• Fat: 38.1 g
• Carbohydrates: 19.7 g
• Protein: 36.1 g
• Cholesterol: 90.4 mg