Saturday, May 5, 2012

Mongolian Beef with Vegetables - Dairy & Gluten Free

One of the things that I love to cook is Asian food.  There is something about the balance of sweet, salty and spicy that I just love.  Cooking Asian food at home allows me to be able to enjoy it safely without the risk of gluten exposure or dairy exposure.

This Mongolian Beef with Vegetables is dairy and gluten free without anyone ever guessing that it is allergy safe.  In fact I think that you could shock people with the fact that this is Chinese food made at home and not being takeout!  The recipe is loosely based off of Meemo's Kitchen version of P.F. Chang's China Bistro Mongolian Beef.  I of course used a gluten free soy sauce in addition to playing with the sauce ratios to make it less sweet and bumping up the garlic and ginger flavors.  I also added heat by way of Sriracha sauce, which we loving call "grown up ketchup" around here.  I also wanted to add more texture and flavors to the dish by way of adding an assortment of vegetables.  I hope that you try this and love it as much as we do.


Mongolian Beef with Vegetables - Dairy & Gluten Free

1 1/2 lb lean beef, cut into small cubes or into thin slices
1/4 cup corn starch
3 tbs oil, divided 
3/4 cup soy sauce (La Choy is gluten free)
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp to 2 tbs Sriracha sauce (I used 2 tbs but we like spicy!)
1 onion, cut into thin match sticks
1 yellow or red bell pepper cut into match sticks of similar size to your peas
8 oz mushrooms, sliced
1 lb sugar snap or snow peas
1 bunch of green onions, white and green cut on the bias
1 1/2 tbs grated ginger
1 tbs grated garlic
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
hot steamed rice

Cut the meat into either very small cubes or thin slices.
Toss the meat with the corn starch and set aside while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
In a small bowl combine the soy sauce, water, brown sugar and Sriracha sauce.
Add as much or as little Sriracha as you like!
Stir well to combine and set aside.
 Cut your onion and bell pepper into similar bite sized match stick pieces.
Slice the mushrooms.
Cut the green onions on the bias into about 1/2" pieces.
Grate your ginger and garlic.
Slice the remaining garlic.
Once everything is prepared, heat 1 1/2 tbs of oil in a large skillet or wok.
When the oil is hot, add the onions and stir fry for a few minutes until they start to brown and just begin to soften.
Add the peppers and continue to stir fry for 1 minute.
Add the mushrooms and continue to stir fry until the onions, peppers and mushrooms are browned and just starting to soften.
Remove the stir fried vegetables to a bowl.
Add the remaining oil to the pan.
Once the oil is hot, add the corn starch coated pieces of beef.
Stir fry until the beef is browned and just barely cooked.
Add the ginger and garlic.
Stir fry for about 30 seconds.
Add the sugar snap or snow peas, and stir fry for 1 minute longer.
Add the sauce mixture.
Bring to a boil.
Cook sauce, beef, and peas until the sauce is thick and the peas are tender crisp.
Add the cooked vegetables back in to heat through.
Remove from the heat and stir in the green onions.
Serve over fresh steamed rice.