Mongolian Tofu Recipes

MONGOLIAN BEEF

Steps:

• Combine the sliced beef with 1 teaspoon oil, 1 teaspoon soy sauce, and 1 tablespoon cornstarch. Marinate for 1 hour. The beef should still be quite moist after it has marinated. If it looks too dry, add a tablespoon of water to it.
• Next, dredge the marinated beef slices in the remaining 1/4 cup of cornstarch until lightly coated.
• In a small bowl, mix brown sugar and hot water (or low sodium chicken or beef stock) until the sugar is dissolved. Mix in 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce. If you don't have low sodium soy sauce, substitute 2 1/2 tablespoons regular soy sauce and 1 1/2 tablespoons water. The saltiness of various soy sauce brands varies, so give the sauce a taste, and adjust the amounts of sugar/soy sauce/water/stock to your own taste.
• Heat 1/3 cup vegetable oil in the wok over high heat. Just before the oil starts to smoke, spread the flank steak pieces evenly in the wok, and sear for 1 minute (depending upon the heat of your wok). Turn over and let the other side sear for another 30 seconds. Remove to a sheet pan. Tilt it slightly to let the oil drain to one side (lean it on a cookbook or cutting board). The beef should be seared with a crusty coating.
• Drain the oil from the wok, leaving 1 tablespoon behind, and turn the heat to medium-high. Add the ginger and dried chili peppers, if using. After about 15 seconds, add the garlic. Stir for another 10 seconds and add the premixed sauce.
• Let the sauce simmer for about 2 minutes and slowly stir in the cornstarch slurry mixture. Cook until the sauce has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon.
• Add the beef and scallions and toss everything together for another 30 seconds. There should be almost no liquid, as the sauce should be clinging to the beef. If you still have sauce, increase the heat slightly and stir until thickened. Plate and serve with steamed rice!

VEGAN MONGOLIAN BEEF WITH SOY CURLS

Steps:

• Preheat your oil in a large wok or pot to 350F (I bring it up to a 6 on my stove) .
• In a large bowl, rehydrate the soy curls in boiling water + mushroom broth powder (or just veggie broth if you have that). Let rehydrate for 5-10 minutes, then squeeze as much water out of it as you can.
• Dredge the rehydrated soy curls in cornstarch until coated well, shake off any excess and fry in the oil until crispy. Fry in small batches so you don't overcrowd the oil and bring down the temperature too quickly (otherwise you'll fry for too long and it'll be really oily). Gently stir the soy curls in the oil while cooking to turn and cook them evenly, and remove to let drain on a wire rack or paper towel once golden and crisp. Repeat in batches until all soy curls are cooked.
• Prepare the sauce by combining soy sauce, brown sugar, dark soy sauce, cornstarch, water, and chili flakes in a bowl. Stir well to combine and try to dissolve most of the sugar. Set aside.
• Using either the same wok (removing all but 2 tbsp of oil) or in another pan with oil, and frying ginger for about 2 minutes until fragrant. Add the garlic and fry for another minute. Add the sauce mixture to the pan and stir constantly to cook through. Let the mixture come to a bubble and thicken for about a minute.
• Add the fried soy curls to the sauce and stir well to coat. It might not look like the sauce is enough to coat everything, but as the soy curls soften slightly with the sauce, the sauce should be able to coat all the soy curls. As soon as everything is coated, add the green onions and stir to cook the greens through.
• Serve and enjoy! I like eating this with some rice and some stir-fried garlicky greens :D You can top with toasted sesame seeds for a little extra nuttiness too!

VEGAN/VEGETARIAN PF CHANG'S MONGOLIAN BEEF (TOFU)

Steps:

• Remove tofu from water and thoroughly pat with paper towels to dry.
• Slice tofu in half lengthwise, then quarter it by cutting it in half along the narrow sides. You will have four rectangles. Keep them together, then begin slicing 1/4" slices from the narrow end. You should end up with lots of pieces that measure just over 1" long and about 3/4" wide.
• Put these pieces on a plate, sandwiched between paper towels, and press them dry. This should get most of the water out.
• Heat sesame oil in a deep skillet over low/medium heat.
• Add ginger and garlic to the pan and lightly sautee for about 30 seconds. Do not scorch the garlic.
• Add soy sauce and water.
• Dissolve the brown sugar in the liquid, then raise the heat to medium high and boil sauce for about three minutes. It will thicken slightly.
• Remove from heat and cool slightly.
• Put tofu strips inside of sauce and marinate them for 30-60 minutes. You can start your rice during this step, if you plan to use brown rice.
• Use a colander to gently strain the liquid from the tofu. Keep the liquid in a bowl for the next step.
• Add cornstarch to liquid and dissolve.
• Gently place the tofu back into the skillet (or in a wok, if you'd like) and brown it on medium. Don't turn it too often, or it will break. You can add a small amount of sesame oil to help it along.
• Add green onions, peppers and mushrooms to the skillet or wok.
• Pour sauce into the veggie mixture and heat, just until it's nice and hot.
• Serve over brown rice or pad thai noodles.

MONGOLIAN TOFU

Steps:

• Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the cornstarch to the tofu in a small bowl and toss to coat. Add the tofu to the skillet and cook until browned on all sides, about 6 minutes. While the tofu is cooking, combine the ginger, garlic, soy sauce, water and brown sugar. Mix well. When tofu has browned, add the sauce, stir, then bring to a simmer before reducing heat to low. Simmer for 5-10 minutes, until sauce has thickened and reduced. Serve over rice and garnish with green onion.