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RecipesThe SOS Series
Beef mince comes to the rescue in this speedy riff on a Chinese favourite, sweet-savoury Mongolian lamb.
Nagi Maehashi
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easyTime:< 30 minsServes:4
- The SOS Series
- Beef
- Cabbage
- Noodles
- Nut-free
- Chinese
- Noodle dish
- Stir-fry
- Meat
- Main course
- Midweek dinner
- Budget
- Kid-friendly
- Family meals
- Fakeaway
- Comfort food
This dish happened when I planned to make Mongolian lamb, but discovered I had forgotten to buy lamb. Instead, I grabbed the packet of beef mince I add to my shopping trolley every week without fail and made Mongolian beef noodles instead.
It includes everything I love about Mongolian lamb – that slightly sweet, savoury sauce with its signature hint of Chinese five spice powder – plus noodles and a good amount of hidden veg, making this a complete meal in a pan. It’s not authentic Chinese food but it’s downright tasty, and a total crowd-pleaser.
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Ingredients
500g Hokkien noodles – see note
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 brown onion, halved then cut into 6mm slices
500g beef mince
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
4 cups cabbage, sliced 1cm thick
2 heaped cups beansprouts
Stir-fry sauce
1½ tbsp cornflour
3 tbsp light soy sauce – see note
¼ cup hoisin sauce
¼ cup water
2 tbsp Shaoxing wine – see note
5 tsp dark soy sauce
2 tsp sriracha, optional
¼ tsp Chinese five-spice powder
⅛ tsp white pepper (substitute black pepper)
Garnish, optional
white sesame seeds
spring onion, finely sliced
Method
Step 1
To make the sauce, mix the cornflour and light soy sauce together in a small bowl until there are no lumps. Then add the remaining sauce ingredients and stir to combine.
Step 2
Prepare the noodles according to the packet directions. Drain, rinse to remove excess starch, and set aside in a colander to drain.
Step 3
Heat the oil in a large pan over high heat. Cook the onion until soft, about 2 minutes. Then add the beef and garlic, stir-frying until the beef is no longer pink, and breaking up the mince as you go. Add 2 tablespoons of the stir-fry sauce and cook for about 3 minutes, or until it becomes darker brown.
Step 4
Add the cabbage to the pan and cook for 2 minutes until wilted. Add the bean sprouts, drained noodles, and the remaining sauce. Using two wooden spatulas, toss until the sauce reduces and stains the noodles. Serve garnished with sesame seeds and spring onion, if using.
Notes
- Look for packets of Hokkien noodles in the supermarket fridge aisle or substitute your preferred fresh egg noodles.
- The sauce contains both light and dark soy sauce. You can swap all-purpose soy sauce for light soy sauce. But don’t use only dark soy sauce – it’s too intense!
- You can also substitute more light soy sauce for dark soy sauce, but the noodles won’t be stained with colour.
- Shaoxing wine (Chinese cooking wine) gives the sauce an authentic Chinese restaurant flavour. You can swap it for dry sherry or cooking sake. For an alcohol-free dish, swap the Chinese cooking wine and water for the same volume of low-salt chicken stock.
Appears in these collections
- The 50 most popular new recipes of the year (so far)
- 15 new (and improved) ways with mince starring Adam Liaw’s low-cost stroganoff
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License this article
- More:
- The SOS Series
- Beef
- Cabbage
- Noodles
- Nut-free
- Chinese
- Noodle dish
- Stir-fry
- Meat
- Main course
- Midweek dinner
- Budget
- Kid-friendly
- Family meals
- Fakeaway
- Comfort food
RecipeTin Eats aka Nagi Maehashi is a Good Food columnist, bestselling cookbook and recipe writer.
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