Friday, August 28, 2015

Mongolian Beef - Low Carb

I decided to try making one of hubby's and my favorite Chinese dishes...Mongolian Beef. I haven't had it in years. It was actually quite easy to make and I just happened to have steak that needed to be used. It doesn't require a lot of ingredients and the majority are easy to find in most grocery stores.

The deal breaker in most Mongolian Beef recipes for us low carbers is usually the cornstarch that's used to thicken the sauce as well as the sugar (usually quite a bit) that goes into it because it is a thick salty-sweet sauce if you've never had it before...quite different than the typical Chinese style stir-fry dishes. This Mongolian Beef would be great served over cauliflower rice which is very easy to make. Hubby enjoyed his over steamed brown rice (that he picked up on his way home from our local Chinese restaurant). Even though I did not have mine over rice, the sauce is so good (it's a thick clingy sauce) that cauliflower rice would be a great way to enjoy this particular meal to help grab up the sauce. I snapped a few photos below as well as my easy peasy recipe. Enjoy!





Mongolian Beef - Low Carb

Ingredients:

2 to 3 Tablespoons coconut oil
1-1/2 pounds sliced sirloin steak (about 1/4-inch slices)
3 sliced green spring onions (scallions) cut into 2-inch pieces
1 thinly sliced small carrot, optional
2 large cloves of garlic, minced
2 to 3 tablespoons cashew butter
1/4 cup organic gluten free Tamari sauce
3/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
6 Tablespoons granular sugar free sweetener (I used Swerve)

Directions:

In a nonstick wok or large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add half of the beef and cook, stir-frying until browned (cook until all beef juices cook off and meat begins to caramelize and brown), about 3 to 4 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to a bowl. Add remaining half of beef, and repeat cooking, adding more oil if necessary. Add green onions and carrots during the last minute of cooking, stirring frequently. Transfer beef and onion mixture with slotted spoon to bowl and place with first batch of meat.

Add garlic to wok and stir fry constantly, 1 to 2 minutes. Add cashew butter to wok with garlic (begin with 2 tablespoons) and stir until it begins to warm and soften, about 1 minute. Add Tamari, water, ginger and sweetener. Stir briskly until sauce heats up and cashew butter melts and blends into liquid. Bring almost to a boil and simmer for a few minutes until sauce begins to thicken. Add remaining 1 tablespoon cashew butter if additional thickening is desired (sauce should be thick enough to cling to meat and not run off like a juicy sauce). Add additional water if necessary to thin sauce. When sauce is thickened to desired consistency, return meat and onion mixture to sauce; stir and heat together for a couple minutes until heated through. Serve over cauliflower rice, if desired.

      

No comments: