Julie's Simple Life: Wok Wednesday: Mongolian Beef

We all have Taco Tuesday, why not Wok Wednesday? Asian cuisine use to kind of intimidate me, but I bought a cookbook called "Quick and Easy Chinese" by Nancie McDermott and now I fix it every Wednesday! (Well, almost every Wednesday). Wok Wednesdays are my husband's favorite! He thinks I should make Chinese or Thai food two or three times a week but you know, there's a lot of prep work and ingredients in Chinese and Thai food. (This Mongolian Beef recipe is pretty quick and easy though).

If you're like me, you pin recipes on pinterest and then there they sit. I've been making an effort to try one or two of these recipes a week. That's where I found one of my family's favorite, if not their favorite, Wok Wednesday meal. The original recipe is on "Pink Bites", but I tweaked it a little to my family's liking.

Ingredients: (serves 4-6)

2lb flank steak

1/2 C cornstarch

2 T vegetable oil

6 gloves garlic, chopped

1/2 t minced ginger

1 C soy sauce

1 C water

3/4 C brown sugar

1/2-1 t red-pepper flakes

6 green onions sliced lengthwise

Thinly slice meat and pat dry.

You want to cut the meat against the grain and as thin as possible. It

really helps if you put the meat in the freezer first to freeze slightly.

A serrated knife also helps. (This is the worst part. Your fingers get really cold.)

Place the meat in a bowl and coat with the cornstarch.

Making the sauce: Heat 1T of the oil in a wok or large skillet at med-high. Add the garlic, ginger and red-pepper flakes and stir for about 30 secs. (Be careful it doesn't burn). Add water, soy sauce and brown sugar. Stir and heat to a boil. Let boil 1 min. Pour the sauce into a bowl and set aside.

Cooking the meat: Heat remaining oil in the wok or skillet. Place meat in wok and wait about 3 minutes before stirring so the meat develops a nice crust on it. Continue cooking until meat is cooked.