Mongolian Beef - Who Needs Take Out?!

This recipe is fantastic. There were three happy campers around our dinner table when this was on served up - and you can bet it will be finding it's way back onto the menu ASAP! It comes together quickly and easily and the taste is wonderful. My hubby said it's better than take out and I think I might have to agree. Flank steak works perfectly in this recipe! My hubby commented on the meat being a little "tough" since it is flank steak and isn't slow cooked - but I thought the texture worked very well and was great in this dish.

If you like a lot of sauce, double up the sauce ingredients - but I thought this made a perfect amount for 1 lb of beef and the broccoli we added in to the dish. It wasn't overly "saucy" but gave everything a great flavor.

Mongolian Beef and Broccoli slightly adapted from PinkBites

Ingredients

1 lb of flank steak, thinly sliced crosswise
1/4 cup of cornstarch
2 TBS of canola oil
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon of chopped garlic (about 3 large cloves)
1/2 cup of water
1/2 cup of soy sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
1 12-oz bag frozen broccoli
1 1/2 cups uncooked rice

Directions

1. Prepare rice according to package directions.
2. Meanwhile, pat steak strips dry, and mix them with the corn starch. Use your hands or a spoon to move them around to make sure all pieces are well coated. Shake off excess corn starch.
3. In a small bowl, combine ginger, water, soy sauce, brown sugar, and red pepper flakes and set aside.
4. Heat 1 TBS of oil in a large wok at medium-high heat, add the beef and cook, stirring, until it is well browned (about 5 minutes). Push the meat away from the center and add remaining oil and the garlic. Cook for about a minute and then pour in the sauce; bring sauce to a light simmer. Meanwhile, prepare broccoli per package instructions and drain well.      
5. Simmer and stir until sauce reaches desired consistency; the longer you let it simmer the thicker the sauce will get.  Just before serving, stir in broccoli to coat with sauce. Serve over hot cooked rice.