Cooking Lesson #995: Instant Pot Mongolian Beef

…from the Perspectives’ Kitchen

How you doin’? Instant Pot Mongolian Beef is a delicious dish made with flank steak with a dark flavorful sauce. The beef is tender, and the sauce is thick and rich… perfect to serve over rice.
 
Legend has it that when the Mongol Empire was at its peak, almost 1,000 years ago, it was Genghis Khan and his army that gave us what we now know as Mongolian Beef.
 
At the end of a long hard day of battle, the Mongols would make a large fire and use their shields as grills, as the Mongols believed that food should never be cooked directly on fire. With a freshly slaughtered cow or yak, they would use their swords to turn the meat and even eat with. They had brought along garlic and onions on their battles to help season and flavor the meat, along with a special sweet sauce that only the Mongols knew how to make.
 
We know this is just a ‘legend’, but it’s a lot more fun than the actual truth behind Mongolian Beef (spoiler alert, it doesn’t come from Mongolia, neither does Mongolian BBQ). Regardless of the origin, it’s still one of the top selling dishes in Chinese restaurants.
 
Mongolian beef is a dish from Taiwan consisting of sliced beef, commonly paired with scallions or mixed vegetables and is not particularly spicy. As noted above, Mongolian Beef is often served over steamed rice or in the US, over crispy fried cellophane noodles. It is one of those staple dishes in American Chinese restaurants. Despite its name, the dish has nothing to do with Mongolian cuisine.
 
For some reason Mongolian beef is among the meat dishes developed in Taiwan where Mongolian barbecue restaurants first appeared… beef grilled over basins of charcoal or gas-fired grills. None of the ingredients or the preparation methods are drawn from traditional Mongolian cuisine but from basic Chinese-American cuisine. A variation—Mongolian lamb—substitutes the beef with lamb (same ingredients and prep and cooking times).
 
Prep time:  25 minutes
Cook time:  25 minutes
Yield:  6 servings
 
Ingredients 
3 tablespoons corn starch
2 pounds flank steak, cut across the grain in 1-inch wide strips
2 tablespoons cooking oil, canola, peanut, other neutral oil
8 cloves garlic, pressed
1 tablespoon ginger, minced (or 3 teaspoons powdered)
3/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine (mirin), or sherry or rice wine vinegar
3 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, (or 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper)
3/4 cup water, divided
5 green onions, chopped in 1-inch pieces
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
 
To thicken the sauce
2 tablespoons corn starch
2 tablespoons cold water
 
Directions

1. Add the corn starch to a large plastic zip closure bag. Add the beef slices and shake to coat them in the corn starch. Set them aside in the bag.
2. Turn on the Instant Pot to SAUTÉ setting.
3. When the pot is hot, add the oil.
4. Add the beef in one layer and brown both sides. You will need to do this in two batches, so the meat isn't crowded. The meat will not be fully cooked at this point. Remove the browned meat to a plate and set aside.
5. While the beef is browning, using a large measuring cup add the garlic, ginger, soy sauce, rice wine, sesame oil, red pepper flakes and 1/4 cup of water. Mix well and set aside.
6. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of water to the pot and use a wooden spoon to scrape up all the browned bits from the bottom of the pot (deglaze).
7. Add the sauce and green onions to the pot and stir.
8. CANCEL the SAUTÉ SETTING and add the beef and any liquid on the plate back into the pot.
9. Close the lid and set the steam release knob to the sealing position.
10. Press the PRESSURE COOK button to HIGH PRESSURE for 10 MINUTES. The pot will take 5 to 7 minutes to come to pressure.
11. While the beef is cooking, mix the corn starch and water for thickening. Set aside.
12. When the cook cycle has finished, turn off the pot and let it sit undisturbed for 10 MINUTE NATURAL RELEASE.
13. Turn the steam release to the VENTING POSITION to release the remaining pressure.
14. When the pin in the lid drops back down, open the lid.
15. Add the brown sugar, stir well.
16. Turn on the SAUTÉ setting (normal heat).
17. Stir the beef and sauce. When it starts to simmer, pour in the corn starch slurry, if needed. Then TURN OFF the Instant Pot.
18. Serve immediately over some hot cooked rice and garnish with toasted sesame seeds.

ChefSecret:  A lot of dishes in China had Mongolian in the name, but they were in no way related to Mongolian culture. So Mongolian beef is nothing more than a Taiwanese stir-fry!

Quip of the Day:  不怕慢，就怕站 (bù pà màn, jiù pà zhàn)
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                                                                 PERSPECTIVES/The Consulting Group, LLC, 2025

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