Air Fryer Mongolian Beef - Copycat P.F. Changs Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is PF Chang's Mongolian sauce? ›

Deep and flavorful, our Mongolian Style BBQ Sauce can attribute its flavor profile to smoked black pepper, sweet molasses, soy sauce and garlic making this sauce versatile for marinades and as a finishing sauce.

Our recipe for Mongolian beef sauce includes oyster sauce, soy sauce, tamari soy sauce (as a replacement for dark soy sauce), chili sauce, sugar, and cooking wine. Check the ingredient list to see precise amounts. Don't forget that you can scale the recipe up and down!

Szechuan Beef vs Mongolian Beef

Szechuan Beef has a sweet and spicy flavor with added chili peppers and Szechuan peppercorns. The Szechuan peppercorns has a distinctive tingly numbing sensation when eaten. Mongolian beef has a mild and much simpler taste, making it a kids' favorite, outside of broccoli beef.

We also love serving this dish with garlic noodles, chow mein and a side of lightly roasted green beans. In the U.S. Mongolian beef is also commonly served over a bed of fried cellophane noodles, which adds a light, crisp texture to the overall dish.

Chang's Original Hot Chilli Sauce is the most desirable of accompaniments, perfect for any occasion. Dip in it, pour it on, add it to soups, spice up marinades, BBQ and seafood sauces or even salad dressings! One of our favourite uses to create a mind-blowing grilled cheese and chilli sandwich. Divine.

Chang's opened its doors in 1993 at Scottsdale Fashion Square in Scottsdale, AZ. What does P.F. Chang's stand for? P.F. Chang's was conceived and developed by Paul Fleming (P.F.) and Philip Chiang (Chang) so both names were incorporated into the name of the concept.

Velvet the beef: The velveting technique involves tenderizing, marinating, and a quick searing of the meat. To tenderize: Sprinkle with baking soda (the secret Chinese meat tenderizer). To marinate (a quick marinade): Add basic beef marinade and mix to coat evenly. Let marinate for 15 minutes or up to overnight.

Cornstarch: Cornstarch is used as a thickening agent in many Asian dishes. It gives the Mongolian beef its signature glossy, thick sauce. If you can't find cornstarch, use flour instead, but it may not provide the same clear, glossy finish.

Minced garlic: We sauté the fresh garlic in the oil before we put the stir fry together. Baking soda: acts as a natural tenderizer in this recipe. It is my secret ingredient for take-out recipes as it gives the beef (or chicken) a tender texture even if you marinate it for a short 15-20 minutes.

The secret is tenderising the meat. It's called velveting beef. Your cheerful local Chinese restaurant is using economical stewing beef to make stir fries with ultra tender strips of beef by tenderising it!

What is another name for Mongolian beef? ›

Stir-Fried Spicy Beef (Previously: Mongolian Beef)

Sliced beef marinated in soy and then stir-fried with peppers and onions.

Hunan beef also packs in some heat in the form of chili peppers, but it's not a numbing heat whatsoever and I like to think of it as the milder cousin to Szeuchuan beef. What's the difference between Hunan beef vs Mongolian beef? Another favorite beef recipe of mine, Mongolian beef is much sweeter than Hunan beef.

Despite its name, the dish has nothing to do with Mongolian cuisine. Mongolian beef is among the meat dishes developed in Taiwan where Mongolian barbecue restaurants first appeared. Thus, none of the ingredients or the preparation methods are drawn from traditional Mongolian cuisine but rather from Chinese cuisine.

To prepare the dish, thinly sliced flank steak is first “velveted” or tenderized by marinating it in a mixture that includes baking soda, before being coated in cornstarch.

Tsuivan – stir-fried meat and vegetables with noodles – is one of Mongolia's most-loved dishes. First, meat and vegetables are chopped and stir-fried with sheep tail oil and salt. Then, noodles – hand-cut ones are best – are added to the top of the sizzling ingredients with some water.

Mongolian sauce is a sweet and savory sauce that is often used in Chinese-American cuisine, particularly in dishes like Mongolian Beef or Mongolian Chicken.

Szechuan Beef is characterized by its bold, spicy, and numbing flavors, often derived from Szechuan peppercorns and chili peppers. Mongolian Beef, on the other hand, has a milder and sweeter flavor profile, with a balance of savory and sweet notes from ingredients like soy sauce and brown sugar.

Spices. Szechuan tends to be differing types of hot such as “hot and sweet” or “hot and sour.” The hotness also has a different tingly sensation due to the Szechuan peppercorn used. Mongolian tends to be mild and rarely uses spices. It is also has a lot more actual sauce typically than Szechuan.

Mongolian food is heavy in meat but because they do not have lots of spices this food qualifies for light spicy food.