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So I have officially reached the age where I occasionally throw dinner parties instead of going out and dancing on tables. I mean I personally have never danced on a table but I assume that is what other twenty something’s do anyway. Normally hosting dinner means trying to find a recipe that accommodates all my vegetarian friends but is not risotto (if anybody has any suggestions I would love to hear from you) but in this case I actually had to accommodate fussy meat eaters instead. And by fussy I obviously mean charming and wonderful (hi guys!). So with that in mind, I opted for Mongolian Beef.
This Chinese via America recipe is pretty much one of my favourites for feeding carnivorous dinner party guests, mainly because you can increase/decrease the serving size without any major issues and it is pretty quick to make and can be reheated if necessary. It is also quite frankly one of the tastiest things known to mankind. The sauce is just so incredibly moreish that I found myself eating the leftovers with a spoon while slightly drunkenly doing the washing up. This also brings me to the one downside of dinner party cooking: it is awfully tempting to have a drink when your guests first arrive which unfortunately for me meant that when it came to taking pictures of the food everything ended up rather blurry. I blame the gin.
Serves 4
2lb frying steak (or proper steak if you are feeling fancy)
1 bunch spring onions
A few tablespoons of corn flour for dusting and whatever oil you want to use for frying the meat
2 tbsp sesame or just plain vegetable oil
1 tbsp freshly grated/minced ginger (about 3-4 cloves)
1tbsp grated/minced garlic
½ cup soy sauce
½ cup water
½ cup dark muscovado sugar
1. Start by finely mincing your ginger and garlic. I used a micro plane style grater (one with really small holes) because my knife skills are awful. On a side note: ginger keeps really well in the freezer so I generally buy a large piece, chop it up into smaller ones and keep them in the freezer until needed.
2. In a small sauce pan heat your 2 tbsp of oil and fry the ginger and garlic on a medium heat. When they start to brown add water and soy sauce.
3. Add sugar and stir until it dissolves.
4. Bring sauce to a boil then turn the heat down to low and simmer for about 10 mins. You just want it to get a little bit thicker. Take the sauce of the heat and set aside.
5. Cut your beef into thin strips that can be eaten in one or two bites. If you are using proper steak you need to flatten it out with a rolling pin first.
6. Generously coat your beef strips in corn flour, this will help the sauce stick to the meat.
7. Heat some oil in a large frying pan and fry your beef in batches for about 1 minute on each side. It needs to just turn brown but not cook through.
8. While the beef is frying cut the green parts of your spring onions into inch long pieces.
9. Once all the beef is fried, return it all to the frying pan, add the spring onions and pour over the sauce.
I would suggest serving this with a large bowl of boiled rice (you will need about 400g for four people) and some greens if you are feeling virtuous.
