Transcription
Today I'm going to show you the correct recipe for PF Chang's Mongolian beef. We'll go over the precise ingredients they use at the restaurant. I'll reveal the closely guarded secrets behind their long sought-after dark sauce, and we'll discuss the unique two-step process PF Changs uses to get the most tender beef imaginable.
Now, there's been much speculation online about the authentic recipe for PF Chang's dark sauce, and I'm happy to report that what follows is the actual recipe used at the restaurant. But before we get started, I want to give you a super quick rundown of the exact ingredients you'll need to start.
PF Changs currently uses Leum Key low sodium soy sauce, the one in the green bottle. In the past, they used Kikkoman for all their marinades and sauces but have since switched to Leum Key. I've made the dark sauce with both, and to be completely honest with you, there isn't that much difference. Kikkoman is slightly sweeter and a bit more linear in taste, while Leum Key, despite being low sodium, has a saltier, more complex flavor than Kikkoman. So, which one should you use? At the end of the day, it's up to you. In my experiments, I found I preferred Kikkoman for the alkaline soy marinade, which we'll go over in just a minute, and the Leum Key for the dark soy sauce, but the differences are negligible.
To color the sauce, PF Changs uses Leum Key's mushroom flavored dark soy sauce. If you're not familiar with dark soy sauce, it's typically added to dishes more for color and less for flavor, but mushroom soy sauce has the added benefit of mushroom seasoning for extra savoriness. You should be able to find some version of a mushroom soy sauce at most Asian grocery stores.
For the oyster sauce, PF Changs uses Leum Key Panda brand oyster flavored sauce in the green bottle, and this is the gluten-free version with no added MSG. All of Leum Key's oyster sauces are legit, but if you're able to find their premium oyster sauce, the one with the idyllic scene of a mother and son harvesting gargantuan oysters on the label, this is the one I recommend.
For the base of the sauce, PF Changs uses a defatted chicken bouillon powder that isn't commercially available, but I found that both Knorr and Leum Key chicken broth powder replicate the flavor exactly. What you want to stay away from are Western-style chicken bouillon cubes, and this is because they tend to have unsightly bits of dehydrated parsley in them that you don't really see in Asian-style sauces. But if you're not concerned with visual appearance, really any chicken broth or stock will work for the dark sauce.
And finally, for the rice wine, PF Changs uses a style called Mijiu. This is a very popular choice for cooking wine in many Cantonese and Taiwanese kitchens. It's very similar to the more popular Shaoxing wine, and while there are some subtle differences flavor-wise, they are essentially interchangeable. You should be able to find Mijiu at most Asian grocery stores, and it is available on Amazon. But if you're not able to locate it, just grab a bottle of Shaoxing.
Now, to make the sauce, let's start by adding 1/4 cup of water to a small pot. Then toss in 1/2 teaspoon of chicken broth powder and 1/4 cup of white granulated sugar. Bring it up to a simmer over medium heat and whisk just until the sugar and chicken powder have totally dissolved. Then kill the heat and add 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of mushroom soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce, and 2 tablespoons of Mijiu or Shaoxing rice cooking wine. Give it a whisk until everything is incorporated, and this is it. This is the actual recipe for PF Chang's dark sauce. And after it's cooled down, you can keep the sauce covered in the fridge for up to a month.
Now, for their Mongolian beef, PF Changs uses flank steak because of its pronounced beefy flavor. This is arguably the most popular choice for stir-fry dishes in Chinese restaurants, and although its price has increased over the past several years, it's still generally inexpensive and should be commonly available.
One of the biggest problems home cooks face when dealing with flank steak is how to properly prepare it for stir-fry. Because of the long muscle fibers in this particular cut, if you slice it incorrectly, it can become inedibly chewy. To ensure tenderness, PF Changs uses a two-step process that involves an alkaline soy marinade and an egg white velveting coating that helps their protein stay succulent and juicy even with the high heat of wok cooking.
But before we get to that, we'll need to section the meat first. Here I've got a 12 oz flank steak. To start, what you want to do is identify the long muscle fibers that run along the steak. We'll first make about 1 and 1/2 inch cuts with the grain to get our meat into manageable pieces. You might notice in some places the fibers grab the wheel and veer off the road diagonally, so you might have to portion these little pieces off to deal with them individually. Then take each of these sections and turn them perpendicular to you. Take your knife, tilt it at about a 30 to 40 degree angle, and cut them into about 1/8 of an inch slices. If you're having problems slicing the beef thinly enough, toss it in the freezer for about 20 to 30 minutes, and this will firm it up, making it much easier to cut. And this is what the beef slices should look like if you've done it correctly.
The next step is preparing the alkaline soy marinade, and PF Changs uses this on almost all their protein. This brine not only tenderizes the meat even further, but it also flavors the beef, seasoning it all the way through. And to make it, it's ridiculously simple. All you'll do is take one cup of water, and to that, add 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda and stir to dissolve. This will raise the pH of the water to make it more alkaline. What this does is make it harder for protein bands in the meat to tighten during the high heat of wok cooking. This is what most Chinese restaurants use to give their proteins that fork-tender texture often associated with out-style stir-fry meat. If you've ever added baking soda directly to a protein and felt like it gave it an off flavor, using a brine like this is a way we can get all the tenderizing effects of baking soda without imparting such flavors.
Then, to the alkaline water, add 1/3 cup of soy sauce, give a brief stir to incorporate it, and toss in the sliced flank steak. And you'll want to marinate the meat for at least 2 hours. PF Changs actually brines all their protein for at least 24 hours, and I have noticed longer marination times do improve both texture and flavor. So, if you can swing it, I recommend at least a day, and just make sure you refrigerate it the entire time.
After the marination, PF Changs velvets their beef slices. If you've never heard of velveting, it's essentially a type of batter, usually made with egg and some sort of starch, that helps keep the meat extra tender. Basically, what it's doing is creating a layer between the protein and the cooking surface so it cooks more gently.
To get started, let's remove the beef slices from the brine and pat them dry with paper towels. Drying the meat before velveting will help the batter more closely adhere to it. Then we'll add half of an egg white and 1/8 of a teaspoon of white pepper. Give it a stir so the meat is evenly covered in the egg batter. Next, toss in 1 tablespoon of potato starch and gently massage it into the beef slices so they're all covered. And I've gotten some conflicting reports of whether or not PF Changs uses a starch for their Mongolian beef. Most of the people I've spoken with tell me they use potato starch. A handful told me they use corn starch, and others have said they use only egg and white pepper. So I tested all three methods: potato starch, corn starch, and egg only. The potato and cornstarch beef slices are virtually indistinguishable, so whichever one you can grab should be fine. The egg only version was noticeably tougher than the slices that use starch, so I highly recommend adding a starch to your velveting process.
To finish, toss in one teaspoon of a neutral oil and give the meat a stir so it's evenly distributed. And you want to let this sit for at least 30 minutes or up to overnight in the fridge before cooking.
To cook the beef, let's heat some frying oil to 350 degrees, then working in batches, fry the meat for about 60 to 90 seconds, making sure to agitate it while it's cooking so the meat doesn't clump together. And this step in the velveting process is called passing through the oil. We're basically cooking the meat before the final stir-fry, so the finishing process should only take us a couple of minutes to complete the dish. Then drain the beef slices on a wire rack or a plate lined with paper towels and set it aside.
To finish the dish, you want to make sure you have all your ingredients assembled beforehand because the meat is already cooked, the final dish comes together in a matter of just a couple of minutes. We'll go over everything you need while we're making the dish, but before we start, I need to tell you about the special type of garlic PF Changs uses in all their dishes. What you want to look for is dehydrated minced garlic, and you should be able to find this at most grocery stores in the spice aisle. This is, as its name implies, minced garlic that has been dried so that it has no moisture in it.
But why does PF Changs use this special type of garlic? I assume it's to save on labor costs because chopping massive amounts of garlic takes forever, but it also has a couple of distinct culinary advantages as well. Firstly, it doesn't burn and stick to the hot pans as easily as fresh garlic, and secondly, it offers a slightly smoother and more concentrated garlic flavor. To prepare it, you'll just need to reconstitute it in hot water for about 20 to 30 minutes, and then drain it of all the water before using. And you can keep this in the fridge for about a week and use it anytime you need minced garlic.
And the last specialty ingredient we'll need is sesame oil. PF Changs uses this as a finishing oil because of its rich, nutty flavor. You'll see several different types at most Asian grocery stores, but what you want to look for is pure sesame oil. If you can only find toasted sesame oil, that will work, but the brand PF Changs uses is Leum Key pure sesame oil.
Now, to start the cooking, let's heat some neutral oil in a wok over medium-high heat. When you're up to temp, toss in 2 teaspoons of garlic and fry for about 10 to 15 seconds. And you don't want to let this brown; you just want to let it flavor the oil a bit. Then add 1/4 cup of the prepared dark sauce and 1 tablespoon of white sugar. Give it a stir so the sugar dissolves. Bring the sauce up to a boil and let it reduce slightly and thicken for about 30 seconds. Add the prepared flank steak and toss it in the sauce. Cook for about 30 to 60 seconds longer, allowing the sauce to reduce a bit further. Then add half a teaspoon of sesame oil and 1 to 2 oz of green onion tops that have been cut into pieces about 2 inches long. Toss everything together and continue to cook for about 15 to 20 seconds longer. Then kill the heat.
And this is it. This is the actual recipe used at PF Changs for their signature Mongolian beef. And quickly, before our taste test and before the culinary historians in the comment section have a conniption, I want to state for the record that this dish is not actually a Mongolian creation. It was apparently invented in Taiwan, named after Mongolian Barbecue, then popularized in American Chinese takeout kitchens. So let's squash the Mongolian beef and recognize this as a true marvel of international culinary cooperation.
Now, let's give it a taste test and see how we did. This is indistinguishable from PF Chang's version. And even though it's not a real Mongolian dish, it's still a classic of Chinese takeout cuisine, and it's an amazing dish to have in your repertoire. And if you want to learn all the secrets behind world-class Vietnamese pho, make sure to check out this video. Thanks for watching. See you next time.