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Sweet and saucy, Mongolian beef has nothing to do with Mongolia and has everything to do with classic Chinese take-out dishes. While this to-go version is great in its own right, a homemade version can be much, much better. You only need a few simple ingredients and some prepped vegetables to have a dish that is filled with flavor.

Via: YouTube

Joshua takes classic American staples and elevates them with feasible, approachable techniques that any home cook can do.

Via: YouTube

To start, he freezes, yes freezes, his flank steak for 15 minutes. This pause stiffens the musculature and makes it easier to slice thin strips of meat. He tosses the slices in cornstarch, which, when fried, will give the exterior a satisfying crackle.

Via: YouTube

He preps all of the vegetables and portions of the sauce ingredients. In the video a wok is used — and indeed — using a wok will give you better results for this dish. But if you don’t have a wok, you can get good crispiness and a developed sauce in a cast iron skillet. Like the wok, an iron skillet has to be pre-greased, or else you’ll be cleaning it out of the pan for days.

Via: YouTube

Next, you saute the scallions, peppers, ginger, and pepper paste called gochugaru. Once cooked a tiny bit, he adds the light and dark soy sauces, brown sugar, rice vinegar, and water, simmering it for a few minutes until it thickens slightly.

Via: YouTube

Once the beef is tossed back into the stir fry, the sauce thickens further (from the beef’s cornstarch coating). For a fresh bite, he serves it with Thai basil and thinly sliced scallions.

Watch the video from start to finish below!

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