One of my few laments about being gluten free is that I can’t eat Chinese food. While a good Japanese Steakhouse will cook your hibachi in the back using tamari instead of soy, Chinese places have all their sauces premade and can’t substitute. I’m always on the lookout for a decent copycat that I can make at home, and I came across this recipe for Mongolian Chicken. Mongolian Beef was always one of my favorites, and I’m sure (if this is good!) it could be easily adapted for beef. Here’s hoping!
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup + 2 teaspoons cornstarch divided use
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil (I had regular sesame oil, not toasted)
- 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce (used tamari)
- 1/3 cup water
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar (used light brown sugar)
- 1/2 cup green onions cut into 1 inch pieces (used about 1c)
- salt and pepper to taste
- I added in 1 small onion cut into strips long-ways
Note: I love the onions in a Mongolian beef or chicken, so I’m adding in some extra green onions, as well as a small sliced yellow onion. My chicken breast is also .84 pounds, so that gives us a little more volume and we shouldn’t miss the extra chicken. (Hopefully!)
Remember, the key to stir frying is to have everything prepared ahead of time, because it goes fast! I like to use paper plates to separate the things that will cook for different amounts of time.
Slice the chicken very thin. The easiest way to do this is to partially freeze it, and cut it on the bias, meaning crossways to the grain of fat and fibers running through the meat. Put the chicken in a zip top bag with 1/4c corn starch and shake to thoroughly coat the chicken.
Heat the vegetable oil on high heat. Add the chicken in a single layer (cooking in batches if necessary) and season with salt and pepper. (You don’t need much salt – there’s a lot of salty flavor in the soy/tamari. Cook until browned on the bottom, then flip. Be careful not to overcook.
The recipe says 3-4 min per side, but if you’ve cut the chicken very thin, it’s only going to take a couple of minutes total. Keep an eye on it — the cornstarch will help it brown nicely. Remove from the pan to a paper towel lined plate.
Add the garlic and ginger to the pan. I also added my yellow onion slices here, because I need them to cook some — but not too much. Cook for 30 seconds to a minute if you aren’t adding onion, for probably 2 minutes if you do, stirring often.
Add the soy, water, sesame oil, and brown sugar to the pan. I mixed them all in a measuring cup ahead of time. Bring to a simmer.
Mix 2 tsp of corn starch with 1 tbsp of cold water. Add this mixture to the soy/brown sugar mixture. Turn to high to boil, stirring constantly 30-60 seconds until just thickened.
Add the chicken and green onions and toss to coat and heat.
Serve over rice.
RATING: 5 enthusiastic stars
RP SERVING: 2 – we ate it all!
This is the best recipe I’ve made in awhile, and certainly the best since restarting the blog. It was easy, fast, not a lot of prep, and really delicious! I’m glad I added the extra onions.
We’re already talking about beef and maybe even in shrimp. I’ll be making it again SOON!
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