Mongolian Beef and Shrimp

 I took an extreme right turn for this weeks Sunday Dinner Episode from where we have been for the last month or so.  This week we are taking a shot at chinese cooking.  Chinese food, one of my favorites, for some reason is one the the hardest types of food for me to cook.

 Back in the day when I used to work in Midland Michigan once a week or so we would go to one of the chinese restaurants in town.  Midland was fortunate to have two fine chinese restaurants, one being Pi's and the other China Palace.  It was a toss up for peoples favorite, mine is China Palace.  Whenever I went to the China Palace and didn't eat the buffet I would order either the mongolian shrimp or mongolian beef.  I loved the stuff and it is still my favorite of all chinese food.  Since I have left the Midland area and went to other chinese restaurants in other towns I have found out how hard it is to find mongolian beef or shrimp.  I did find mongolian beef at P.F Changs in Arlington Virginia but I have yet to find mongolian shrimp at any restaurant.

I have tried to duplicate the mongolian beef and shrimp recipe for the last three years with little luck.  It's been a few months since I tried so I thought I would give it another shot.  I searched the internet and finally came up with a recipe that is suppose to be the one P.F Changs use.  I did change it a little because the Mongolian meals I had at the Midland restaurants didn't have mushrooms.   This cast of characters are as follows.........

 Not a big cast this week and I like that. 

I followed the recipe below and I will admit I was a little disappointed when I finished.  The dish was good, it just wasn't what I was hoping for which is something close to the mongolian beef from the China Palace.

Next I thought I might as well try with shrimp and make a couple of changes.  First I decided not to to use the cornstarch and coat the shrimp.  Most recipes I find on Mongolian shrimp or beef use a light dusting of corn starch but I don't remember the mongolian shrimp at the China Palace having any type of coating.  The other change I made was to slice up a half of onion and cook with the shrimp.  I also added more ginger to the shrimp while it cooked but used the same sauce as the mongolian beef.  I should add I threw in a few red pepper flakes to kick it up a notch because after all mongolian shrimp can be a bit spicy at times.  What I ended up with was mongolian shrimp dish that is getting darn close to the China Palace one.  I think the ginger might be the difference.

 At the end of the day my search for the perfect mongolian shrimp or beef continues and maybe someday I'll find what I am looking for but until that day I think I may have found something close that I can use.

Mongolian Beef

(Printable Recipe)

• 1 lb flank or skirt steak, sliced in thin strips
• 1/4 cup corn starch
• 2 tsp vegetable or peanut oil
• 1 tsp fresh ginger, minced
• 1 tbsp garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 cup vegetable or peanut oil
• 1 bunch green onions, green part only, cut in half

 Dust steak pieces lightly in cornstarch and set aside while preparing the sauce. In a small sauce pan heat oil over medium high heat. Add ginger and garlic. Add soy sauce and water to the ginger and garlic before it browns. Add brown sugar and whisk until dissolved. Bring sauce to a boil and simmer about 10 minutes or until slightly reduced and thickened. Remove from the heat and reserve.

In a wok heat 1 cup oil over medium high heat. Working in batches, add the steak a few at a time to the hot oil. Cook about 1 minute without touching the meat then flip each piece and cook 1 minute more.

Remove meat while still rare inside, and continue with next batch. Once all meat is browned, pour off oil and wipe out skillet.

Add steak to the hot pan and cook about 1 minute. Add sauce to the pan and simmer and toss meat and sauce about 1 minute. Add green onions and heat 1 minute.

Serve over rice.