This recipe has quickly become my family’s favorite. In fact my daughter just requested it for her Birthday dinner. My husband first made it for us with moose when we lived in Alaska. We called it Mongolian Moose. After moving back to the ranch the name has switched to Mongolian Beef. As you can tell this recipe is diverse and can be used with wild game such as elk or moose as well as with beef.

The ingredient list is quite simple:

2 tsp Olive Oil for frying Garlic
1 cup Olive Oil for frying meat
1 to 1 1/2 Tbsp Minced or finely chopped Garlic to taste
1/4 to 1/2 tsp Powdered Ginger to taste
1/4 cup Liquid Aminos or Soy Sauce
3/4 cup Water
2/3 cup Brown Sugar
1/4 cup Corn Starch
2 bunches Green Onions or Chives
1 pound Flank Steak, Beef Roast, or any tender cut of meat (not pictured below)

Cut your meat into 1/4 inch thick strips. I find it easier to cut the meat into thin strips when it is still partially frozen.

Place the sliced beef into a bowl, and stir the cornstarch into the beef, coating it thoroughly. Allow the beef and cornstarch to sit until most of the juices from the meat have been absorbed by the cornstarch. This will take about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat, and cook and stir the garlic and ginger until they release their fragrance, about 30 seconds.

Pour in the liquid aminos, water, and brown sugar. Side Note: My daughter and I have to eat gluten-free so we use liquid aminos instead of soy sauce. You could use soy sauce instead but may want to increase the amount of soy sauce by 1/4 cup and decrease the water by 1/4 cup. Liquid aminos seem to be more salty than soy sauce so we decreased the amount of liquid aminos from the original recipe to cut down on the saltiness.

Raise the heat to medium-high, and stir 4 minutes, or until the sugar has dissolved and the sauce boils and slightly thickens.

The store didn’t have green onions available when I was buying ingredients for this recipe. I guess that’s what you get when you shop for groceries in a small town. I substituted chives instead. We have done this in the summer as well when our chives are producing like crazy. Either chives or green onions taste great! Cut green onions/chives into boiling sauce in 1/4 to 1/2 inch sections. Cook until the onions/chives have softened and turned bright green, about 2 minutes. Remove sauce from the heat, and set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a deep-sided skillet or wok on medium heat. Shake the excess cornstarch from the beef slices, and lay them out into the hot oil.

Fry until the edges become crisp and start to brown, then flip over with tongs or a fork to let the other side brown. Sometimes when the oil really heats up it splatters, so when I am reloading the skillet with beef I sometimes set the skillet off the burner so it won’t splatter me so much. Ouch!

Remove the beef from the oil with tongs or a slotted spoon, and allow to drain on paper towels to remove excess oil.

Pour the oil out of the skillet or wok, and return the pan to medium heat. Return the beef slices to the pan and pour in the reserved sauce. Stir to combine. Heat to desired warmth and serve over rice. On the day I was cooking this, we had a meeting for the development of this website which ran close to dinner time, so I actually made everything in the early afternoon and just put the meat into a crock pot. I then poured the sauce over the top of the meat and stirred it together. I set the crock pot on the keep warm setting and ran off to our meeting.

When I came back, all I had to do is stir the meat and sauce together a bit and it was ready to serve over the rice that we cooked in our rice cooker! I forgot to take a picture of the Mongolian Beef served over rice as I was busy managing a Birthday Party, but I hope you can imagine it!

Mongolian Beef

2 tsp Olive Oil for frying Garlic

1 cup Olive Oil for frying beef

1 to 1 1/2 Tbsp Minced or Finely Chopped Garlic to taste

1/4 to 1/2 tsp Powdered Ginger to taste

1/4 cup Liquid Aminos or Soy Sauce (see note in description above)

3/4 cup Water

2/3 cup Brown Sugar

1/4 cup Corn Starch

2 bunches Green Onions or Chives

1 pound Flank Steak, Beef Roast, or any tender cut of meat

Cut your meat into 1/4 inch thick strips. I find it easier to cut the meat into thin strips when it is still partially frozen.
Place the sliced beef into a bowl, and stir the cornstarch into the beef, coating it thoroughly. Allow the beef and cornstarch to sit until most of the juices from the meat have been absorbed by the cornstarch. This will take about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat, and cook and stir the garlic and ginger until they release their fragrance, about 30 seconds.
Pour in the liquid aminos or soy sauce, water, and brown sugar. Raise the heat to medium-high, and stir 4 minutes, or until the sugar has dissolved and the sauce boils and slightly thickens.
Cut green onions/chives into boiling sauce in 1/4 to 1/2 inch sections. Cook until the onions/chives have softened and turned bright green, about 2 minutes. Remove sauce from the heat, and set aside.
Heat the olive oil in a deep-sided skillet or wok on medium heat. Shake the excess cornstarch from the beef slices, and lay them out into the hot oil. Fry until the edges become crisp and start to brown, then flip over with tongs or a fork to let the other side brown.
Remove the beef from the oil with tongs or a slotted spoon, and allow to drain on paper towels to remove excess oil.
Pour the oil out of the skillet or wok, and return the pan to medium heat. Return the beef slices to the pan and pour in the reserved sauce. Stir to combine. Heat to desired warmth and serve over rice. Enjoy!
Note: This can also be cooked ahead of time by following all these steps and then putting the mixture into a crock pot on the “Keep Warm” setting.

Mongolian Beef

Mongolian Beef

Cut your meat into 1/4 inch thick strips. I find it easier to cut the meat into thin strips when it is still partially frozen.

Place the sliced beef into a bowl, and stir the cornstarch into the beef, coating it thoroughly. Allow the beef and cornstarch to sit until most of the juices from the meat have been absorbed by the cornstarch. This will take about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat, and cook and stir the garlic and ginger until they release their fragrance, about 30 seconds.

Pour in the liquid aminos or soy sauce, water, and brown sugar. Raise the heat to medium-high, and stir 4 minutes, or until the sugar has dissolved and the sauce boils and slightly thickens.

Cut green onions/chives into boiling sauce in 1/4 to 1/2 inch sections. Cook until the onions/chives have softened and turned bright green, about 2 minutes. Remove sauce from the heat, and set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a deep-sided skillet or wok on medium heat. Shake the excess cornstarch from the beef slices, and lay them out into the hot oil. Fry until the edges become crisp and start to brown, then flip over with tongs or a fork to let the other side brown.

Remove the beef from the oil with tongs or a slotted spoon, and allow to drain on paper towels to remove excess oil.

Pour the oil out of the skillet or wok, and return the pan to medium heat. Return the beef slices to the pan and pour in the reserved sauce. Stir to combine. Heat to desired warmth and serve over rice. Enjoy!

Note: This can also be cooked ahead of time by following all these steps and then putting the mixture into a crock pot on the “Keep Warm” setting.