Mongolian Beef Stir Fry
Tender beef strips, velveted in baking soda and seared hard, tossed through garlic, ginger, and Hokkien noodles in a glossy Mongolian sauce. Ready faster than takeout.
The baking soda in the marinade isn’t just sitting there, it’s velveting the beef, raising the surface pH so the meat stays tender through the high heat. Give it 15-20 minutes if you can spare it, but don’t push past 30 or the flavour starts to shift.
Once the beef hits the pan this moves fast, so get the noodles and sauce measured out and ready before you start. Keeps well in the fridge for 3 days or the freezer for 3 months.
Mongolian Beef Stir Fry
BEEF · DINNER · EASY
Restaurant-tender beef, done at home
Velveting is the trick restaurants use to get that tender, almost silky beef texture, and it's genuinely simple to do at home. A quick marinade with baking soda before it hits the wok is all it takes.
Letting the beef sear undisturbed for that first minute matters more than it sounds like it would. Move it too soon and you steam the meat instead of searing it, and searing is where all the colour and flavour come from.
The Mongolian sauce is glossy, savoury, and comes together while the beef marinates, so once the wok is hot there's barely any waiting around. From fridge to bowl in well under 30 minutes.
Mongolian Beef Stir Fry
Ingredients
Beef and Marinade
- 600 g Lean Beef Steak Scotch, Eye Fillet, Rump, Skirt
- 22.5 ml Low Sodium Soy Sauce
- 22.5 ml Shaoxing Wine
- 5 g Baking Soda
- 10 g Cornflour Cornstarch
Stir Fry
- 37.5 ml Peanut Oil
- 1 Brown (Yellow) Onion Diced
- 4 Garlic Cloves Minced
- 20 g Ginger Julienned or Grated
- 600 g Hokkien Noodles Fresh or Dried
- 4 Spring Onions (Scallions) Sliced
Mongolian Sauce
- 125 ml Low Sodium Soy Sauce
- 125 ml Chicken Stock
- 60 g Oyster Sauce
- 24 g Brown Sugar Optional
- 30 ml Shaoxing Wine
Method
- Combine the beef with the marinade ingredients and mix well. Set aside for 5 minutes (or longer if you have time — see Chef's Tips).
- In a separate bowl, combine the Mongolian sauce ingredients and mix well. Set aside.
- Heat the oil in a large wok or frying pan over high heat. Add the onion and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add the beef, spreading the strips out as much as possible. Let it sear for 1 minute before flipping, then stir-fry for another minute, until you've got some good colour on the beef. Add the ginger and garlic and stir-fry for 2 minutes.
- Add the cooked noodles and the Mongolian sauce. Stir-fry until well combined and the sauce is thick and glossy. Toss through the spring onions. Remove from the heat.
- Serve in 5 x 750ml meal prep containers. Garnish with spring onion.
What does the baking soda actually do to the beef?⌄
It raises the surface pH of the meat, which is what makes velveting work, keeping the beef tender and juicy even under high wok heat. It's a classic Chinese cooking technique, not a shortcut.
Can I use dried noodles instead of fresh?⌄
Yes, either works well. Fresh Hokkien noodles just need a quick loosen in hot water, while dried ones need boiling until tender first, then draining before they go into the wok.
What cut of beef works best here?⌄
Scotch fillet, eye fillet, rump, or skirt steak all work, they're lean cuts that slice thin and sear fast. The velveting step does a lot of the tenderising work regardless of which one you pick.
How do I stop the noodles from clumping together?⌄
Loosen fresh noodles under hot water before they go in the wok, that breaks up the strands so they toss through the sauce evenly instead of sticking together in one block.
