I must confess to never knowing that Mongolian Beef is a popular fakeaway recipe amongst slimming club circles. This version from Two Chubby Cubs is a great weekend option when you want to rustle up a treat but don’t want to spend ages in the kitchen if you’ve had a long week at work, managing the kids, or both!
Two points of caution. You need a good non-stick frying pan otherwise you run the risk of your beef strips being welded to it. And make sure you use low-sodium soy sauce and not regular soy sauce otherwise, to quote the Cubs, “you’ll have a mouth saltier than a sailor’s ankle”. I used low-salt soy sauce and still found this a little salty for my liking.
Serve with a small portion of rice. Job done.
Recipe: Mongolian Beef
Calories: 287 per serving (without rice)
Serves: 4
Book: Two Chubby Cubs – The Cookbook
Prep time: Approx 10 mins
Cooking time: Approx 15 mins
Ingredients:
- 500g beef steak, sliced as thinly as you dare, or to save a bit of time buy beef strips
- 25g cornflour
- A few good twists of black pepper
- 3 cloves of garlic (crushed)
- ½ tsp finely grated ginger
- 120ml low-sodium soy sauce
- 25g brown sugar
- 1 tsp chilli flakes
- 3 spring onions (finely sliced)
Cost per portion: Approx £1.86 (without rice)
Method:
Place the beef on some kitchen paper and dry it off. Pop it in a bowl with the cornflour and pepper and toss until it is evenly covered, then set aside.
In a good non-stick pan, heat a little oil over a medium heat and gently cook the garlic and ginger until coloured, but be careful not to burn them. Add the soy sauce, brown sugar, chilli flakes and 120ml of water and cook until everything has thickened down nicely.
Pour the sauce into a jug. Put the beef straight into the same pan and cook on high until browned on all sides.
Pour the sauce over the beef and allow to bubble for a minute or 2.
Sprinkle the spring onions over the top and serve with rice.
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