"Mongolian" Beef 'n Rice

Voltaire once said of the Holy Roman Empire that it was "neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire," and I must say that I have a similar feeling whenever I come across "Mongolian" barbecue, "Mongolian beef," et cetera, when in North America. I have never had the privilege of visiting Mongolia, but I did live next door to it for years and my favorite cousin has actually lived there for quite some time, so I do have an idea of what Mongolian food is...and this recipe isn't it!

Funnily enough, when I decided to try an adaptation of Marion's lovely recipe I did do some digging to find out what exactly was going on with the 'mongoliamania' in North America and was very surprised to learn that it actually has its roots amongst the mainland Chinese residents of Taiwan who fled there as refugees following the Chinese Civil War. Some of them were from Beijing and wanted to open restaurants serving familiar Beijing dishes, but didn't dare name anything for the old capital given the political situation of that time. (Although the government of the Republic of China was controlled by mainlanders even after its transfer to Taipei on Taiwan, naming something after the capital city of the newly founded People's Republic of China was a bit fraught apparently.) As a result, some instead opened "Mongolian" restaurants and so the mislabeling began!

I know what follows does not represent Mongolian cuisine, and I'm not sure it really represents the Taiwanese style of cooking it descends from either! I myself thought it was okay, but wished I'd made bulgogi instead. My Chinese spouse, on the other hand, loved it and asked that the 'Chinese bulgogi' be kept in the rotation, and so here we are! (Who am I to argue if the Chinese guy thinks it's Chinese bulgogi?) If you give this a try I hope you enjoy it as much as he does!

"Mongolian" Beef 'n Rice

(4 servings)

Ingredients

4 tablespoons of soy sauce

1/4 cup of beef stock

3 tablespoons of brown sugar

3 tablespoons of oyster sauce

2 tablespoons of cooking wine

2 teaspoons of cornstarch

500g / 1lb of ground beef

1 medium onion (halved / sliced)

5 cloves of garlic (crushed/minced)

1 tablespoon of grated ginger

Black pepper (to taste)

2 sliced green onions (to garnish)

Roasted sesame seeds (to garnish)

Rice (to serve)

Directions

1) Stir together the soy sauce, stock, brown sugar, oyster sauce, cooking wine, and cornstarch and set aside.

2) In a medium-large pan or wok over medium heat stir together the beef and onion and sauté until the beef is brown and the onion begins to soften and become translucent. At this point drain any excess fat that may have accumulated.

3) Add the garlic, ginger, and black pepper to the beef and onion mixture and sauté for another minute or two until fragrant.

4) Add the sauce, stir thoroughly to combine, and allow everything to simmer for a couple of minutes to bring all the flavors together and to reduce the sauce a bit.

5) Serve everything with (or over!) your favorite rice with green onions and the sesame seeds sprinkled on top and enjoy!