Mongolian Beef

Making Chinese food dishes at home is surprisingly easy and tasty without all of the grease once you get some of the ingredients. I know I put off buying hoisin sauce for quite a while, but now it's so easy to throw something like this together knowing that I already have most of the ingredients on hand. Besides, the two things I miss most when I'm eating healthfully are pizza and Chinese food. I doubled the amount of chili-garlic paste, which made it quite spicy. If you use the original amount, it will still have some heat. I served this on top of lo mein noodles, but next time, I think I will add some broccoli and serve it over brown rice.

Mongolian Beef
source: Cooking Light December 2009
Yield 4 servings

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons dry sherry (I subbed dry vermouth)
  
• 2 teaspoons hoisin sauce
• 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon chile paste with garlic (I doubled.)
  
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons peanut oil
• 1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic
• 1 pound sirloin steak, thinly sliced across the grain
• 16 medium green onions, cut into 2-inch pieces

Preparation

1. Combine first 8 ingredients, stirring until smooth.

2. Heat peanut oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add minced ginger, minced garlic, and beef; sauté for 2 minutes or until beef is browned. Add green onion pieces; sauté 30 seconds. Add soy sauce mixture; cook 1 minute or until thickened, stirring constantly.