P.F. Chang’s is one of my favorite chain restaurants. A few weeks ago, I was supposed to meet a friend there for lunch but we ended up having to cancel because of work scheduling conflicts. Ever since, I’d been dreaming of their Mongolian beef. Lucky for me, though, I found this copycat recipe. It totally hit the spot!

Mongolian Beef
(from Chaos in the Kitchen)
Serves 4

2 lbs. flank or skirt steak
1/4 c. corn starch
2 t. vegetable or peanut oil
1 t. fresh ginger, minced
1 T. garlic, minced
1/2 c. low sodium soy sauce
1/2 c. water
1/2 c. dark brown sugar
1 c. vegetable or peanut oil
1 bunch green onions, green part only, cut in half

Trim all fat and silver skin from meat. Cut the meat opposite the grain (horizontal) into two bite-sized pieces. 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 large skillet or 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.

Heat skillet over high heat. 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. Toss with steak and sauce and heat 1 minute.

Use tongs to remove meat and veggies to a serving dish, leaving excess sauce in the pan. Serve over rice.