P. F. Chang's Mongolian Beef

Reviews

• "Hello All! Don't we just LOVE, love, love this recipe? I have a few tweaks to offer: In a large bowl (I prefer glass) combine steak, an additional 1/4 cup of low-sodium soy, and 2 T Hoisin sauce with the corn starch and mix well with fingers. Let that marinade (not in frig) for about 30 mins. That should clear up the problems someone mentioned with coating the meat with cornstarch and also make the meat even more tender and juicy. Whenever I've seen Asian chefs coat something with starch (usually potato starch by the way :), they've always done it this way. It gets all pasty and kinda nasty looking, but it's gooo-oood! I also throw the onions into the garlic and ginger saute mixture for a few moments before taking them back out and setting them aside until just before plating. Thanks for viewing my suggestions! :) Bon appetit! ~BoB"

  By Bento or Bust on March 19, 2010 | 1071102

• "I've never tried PF Chang's but this is delicious! The step of velveting the meat in the corn starch is the secret to a good stir fry, I think. The sauce is wonderful, and my picky 5-year-old even ate her whole plateful. Thanks for a great meal!!! For those who care about such things -- I do want to point out that the nutritional info. on this is way out of whack -- because it assumes you're going to eat the whole 1 c. of oil you fry in. When I poured my oil out of the saucepan, I was just 2 Tablespoons short of a cup. That takes at least 840 calories out of each serving. More oil ends up on the paper towels, and if you leave the sauce in the pan like the recipe suggests, this is not the fat fest it appears to be from the numbers. It also served 4 at our house. "

  By moxie on July 16, 2003 | 59696

• "I've died and gone to Mongolian Beef Heaven. Made it exactly as stated, and then steamed some broccoli to mix in with it when we sat down to eat it. Go NOW, and make this - NOW! :-)"

  By Rachie P on February 24, 2011 | 1194697

• "I had absolutely no expectations for this dish but it was remarkably delicious! This is definitely one I will keep. I'm glad I read through many of the reviews and suggestions. I had to tweak it a bit since I had to work with what I had on hand.
  
  First, I put the boneless sirloin I had in the freezer for 15 minutes to make it easier to slice thinly. No fresh ginger, so I subbed in ground ginger. Added a spoonful of hoisin sauce, a few drops of sesame oil to the sauce. I wish I put in a few drops of Siracha to make it a bit spicier. I also found it easier to put the cornstarch in a plastic bag and shook the meat inside before dumped it all into a strainer and shook off the extra cornstarch before the meat rested.
  
  I only used half a cup of oil to fry the meat and it was an ugly gray mess. But it magically transformed with the second heating in the dry pan by turning crispy. Once I added the sauce to the meat, it then turned into a gorgeous dark carmelized dish that tasted unbelievably good."

  By IndigoOnTheGo on November 17, 2010 | 1164632

• "Excellent recipe! I made this for my family and they cleaned their plates, and begged for more. I cut the sugar by 1/3 and it is perfectly alright to use minced garlic along with powdered ginger. This one is a keeper! Thanks so much for sharing this awesome recipe."

  By Buttercup1025 on October 14, 2010 | 1154789

• "Not a bad copy cat recipe! I cut the sugar to 1/2 cup and it was still a little too sweet--even compared to PF Chang's dish. But, there were still no leftovers to put in the refrigerator so that's a good sign. I cut the beef very, very thin and cooked the meat in batches with less oil which was pretty time consuming but the meat did get a nice texture with the cornstarch. I also used cornstarch to thicken up the sauce since I didn't use as much sugar and the consistency was perfect using about a teaspoon (maybe 1.5) of the cornstarch. I would also recommend using reduced-sodium soy sauce since the saltiness really came through. Final verdict: by all means, TRY IT!"

  By MickeyKay on January 22, 2011 | 1184599

• "My family really liked this one! The kids thought the sauce was great, I guess because it was a little sweet. The extra sauce in the pan was used on some steamed broccoli to go with the meal. Not sure if it's the same as P.F.Chang's because we never had it there, but it was enjoyed here!! "

  By yogi on July 07, 2003 | 58466

• "FAN-Freakin-tastic!!!! Today was my second attempt at this recipe, and this time it turned out PERFECT!!! Things that I did different this time was use 1/4 cup water in the sauce and 1/4 in the meat when simmering. I also sliced the semi frozen meat and tossed in corn starch before starting the sauce. This recipe is a keeper!!! Yum, delish!!!"

  By SinnamonBiggins on January 03, 2012 | 1276876

• "Made this last night based upon all of the reviews and it did not disappoint. It was FABULOUS! I took the advice of another reviewer and marinated flank steak in cornstarch, 1/2 c. low-sodium soy sauce and 2 T hoisin sauce before cooking in the oil. I also used 2 lbs. of flank steak instead of 1 lb., so I adjusted the recipe accordingly. Next time I will only increase the brown sugar by 50%, as it would be okay being not quite as sweet. I was also confused by the water, so at the end I added about 1/2 cup of water to the sauce (we like lots of sauce on the rice), cooked it, and it was still great."

  By MichMom (Chef #1571500) on October 06, 2011 | 1255800

• "This is very good, and very close to PF Changs..the only difference is that I can no longer eat at PF Changs anymore..they use mushroom oil for all of their brown sauces and there cream sauces are seafood based. :( that is what is missing from this recipe...instead of vegetable oil, try mushroom oil. As I am deathly allergic, I can not.. but it will add that missing flavor for those who noticed it :) Great recipe, and one I'm sure I will use again and again! Thank you!"

  By beth_h06 on October 28, 2011 | 1261798

• "OMG!! I've been to PF Chang's fairly often in the last few weeks just because I was craving the Mongolian Beef, so I actually came looking for this recipe. This is nothing short of amazing - it is EXACTLY the same, and I feel like this is one of those recipes that you just can't mess up... I sub'd the oil for smart balance, used a lot less, and doubled the servings, and it still came out great! Best of all... it wasn't even that much trouble to make either. I used one big straight-sided pan. Made the sauce, poured it into a pyrex, then did the beef and added the sauce back in later. Cleaned the pyrex while the finished product simmered, then put all the beef back into the pyrex to store. I'm definitely bringing this to work this week. The guys are gonna have food envy."

  By santanic on June 26, 2011 | 1230873

• "I have made this a few times now and it is great, My son, who is very particular about how he compliments about food he eats, said it was one of the best dinners he has eaten in a while. I do triple the sauce recipe except for the sugar and cornstarch. I use the original amount of sugar and cornstarch."

  By DavidinFL2 on April 04, 2011 | 1207278

• "Thank you for the recipe! It was MMM MMM GOOD!!! I added one onion, 4 green onions, one bell pepper, and dried red chilli peppers to spice it up!"

  By mymatong on November 19, 2010 | 1165113

• "Heres a few adjustments you can make to make this one a perfect clone. Use a small amount of sesame oil in the sauce. Once the sauce cools use a portion of it to marinate the beef in for about an hour. Good Luck! "

  By Williamwhy on February 09, 2004 | 88014

• "This was super yummy. We live on an island in AK, and I have had the PF Chang's version many times before! It was just AS GOOD! I would make this again for sure! One tip, get the oil for the beef VERY hot before "deep frying it" to crisp it up a bit. I think that it could have used 1 T of rice wine vinegar to balance out some of the sweet flavor. IT was great as is however. :)"

  By KodiakMomma on September 19, 2011 | 1251720

• "Per my wife: "Tastes JUST LIKE IT!!" I order the Dan Dan Noodles, personally! I made it by the recipe, except I used filet mignon (cause I got it for the price of flank steak!), and I threw in some snow peas with the green onion because that's the way she orders it. This has a wonderful flavor!! Definitely a keeper."

  By Chef #1522598 on April 10, 2011 | 1209001

• "Thank you for this recipe. My girl and I enjoyed a home cooked version of Mongolian Beef and it was like eating at Chang's!"

  By reefphd on June 27, 2010 | 1123992

• "This is one great recipe, fairly easy to put together and a wonderful taste. Never had it at PF Chang's but sure enjoyed it at home. I did follow Williamwhy's suggestion and added a small amount of sesame oil and then marinated the meat in the sauce for 2 hours prior to frying. I think it did help to increase the flavor level. I think next time I'll just pan fry the beef also as deep frying didn't seem to make much differance. Served this with steamed rice and a side of recipe#12563 - YUMMY!!!"

  By Bonnie G #2 on January 28, 2010 | 1041791

• "This was very good...my husband and my 2 year old loved it. Very flavorful"

  By Christel on September 04, 2003 | 66184

• "Very easy to make and is dead on. My wife thought I had gotten take out from pf changs. You won't beleve how close it is!"

  By WillN on July 15, 2003 | 59582