Mongolian Beef

As I was perusing the Internet seeking recipes, I found this little gem. It claimed that it was restaurant quality. I took that as a challenge to find out if it was as good as it claimed to be. The verdict is: It is really really good, but not restaurant quality. But maybe that's because I had to prepare, cook and clean it up, instead of having it done for me. Which in my opinion, is the appeal of going to a restaurant. I served this with brown rice and steamed broccoli.

Source: http://pinkbites.com

Ingredients:

1 pound of flank steak or cube steak, thinly sliced crosswise
1/4 c. cornstarch
3 tsp canola oil
1/2 tsp grated ginger
1 tbsp minced garlic (2-3 large cloves)
1/2 c water
1/2 c low sodium soy sauce
1/2 c brown sugar
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
3 large green onions, sliced

Directions:

1. For the meat, make sure the steak slices are dry by patting them with a paper towel. Slice them into strips, then add cornstarch to the beef. Place the slices in a strainer to shake off excess cornstarch. Begin to cook the rice while you prepare the rest of the meal.
2. For the sauce, heat half of the oil in a large wok or pan at medium-high heat and add the garlic and ginger. Immediately add the soy sauce, water, brown sugar and red pepper flakes. Cook the sauce for about 2 minutes and transfer to a bowl. Don't worry if the sauce doesn't look thick enough at this point. The cornstarch in the beef will thicken it up later.
3. Place the meat in the same pan and cook until browned. Pour the sauce back into the wok/pan and let it cook along with the meat.
4. You can cook down the sauce to reduce it to thicken or leave it thinner. Add the green onions in at the last minute to ensure crunchiness.
Serves 2