This Vegan Mongolian “Beef” is made with soy chunks coated in starch and then fried to a crisp before being stir-fried with an aromatic blend of garlic, ginger, and scallions. It’s coated in a sweet soy glaze that beautifully coats the crunchy pieces of soy chunks to replace the usual “beef” in this recipe.
WAIT, WHAT’S MONGOLIAN BEEF?
Mongolian Beef isn’t actually from Mongolia. It’s a common dish you’ll find in Chinese-American restaurants such as P.F. Chang’s. This dish is very similar to Chinese-Style Beef Tenderloin we have in Chinese restaurants here in the Philippines. I’m not 100% sure where this dish originally hails from or was first created but after doing lots of reading, some websites and articles lead to its origin being from Taiwan.
DO I NEED A WOK TO COOK THIS?
Nope! Though a wok is great to get that wok hei, I used a regular non-stick pan to try it out and turned out perfectly good too! Using high heat still gets that nice lightly brown char on the scallions, which I was aiming for.
INGREDIENTS
THE PROTEIN
I use soy chunks to replace the “beef” for this recipe and also added some mushrooms. For the mushrooms, I use fresh white oyster mushrooms. You can also use some shiitake mushrooms or leave the mushrooms out, or just add more soy chunks. Full recipe is down below! 🙂
SOY CHUNKS OR SOY CURLS FOR THE “BEEF”
Here’s the exact soy meat I used! PS. Link is not an affiliate link. I purchased these from Shopee and can be shipped in the Philippines.
For my US-based friends, here are similar meat substitutes that you can find on Amazon:
(these are affiliate links)
LEAVE SOY CHUNKS TO REHYDRATE THEN SQUEEZE OUT THE EXCESS LIQUID
Squeeze out the liquid from each soy chunk.
If your soy chunks are the type that are in larger pieces (like mine), you can break these apart into small pieces.
COATING THE CHUNKS
Place the corn starch with the soy chunks and then mix well. Soy chunks do tend to hold a lot of liquid so if the pieces still come out wet even with corn starch, that’s totally fine.
You can add 1-2 more tablespoons of starch to coat the pieces well.
You’ll find the full recipe below!
COOKING THE “BEEF”
Heat a large frying pan or wok over high heat. Add enough oil to the pan to be able to submerge the chunks at least halfway.
Once you see small bubbles in the oil, you can test out the heat with a small piece. If it immediately and rapidly sizzles in the oil, it’s hot enough.
You may need to do this in batches depending on the size of your pan.
Fry the chunks until golden brown and really crisp throughout, around 3-5 minutes in total. Keep at eye out to make sure they don’t burn!
Drain the chunks from the oil and set aside. Turn off the heat from the pan.
Remove the oil from the pan. I transfer mine to my oil dispenser and usually use the oil 2-3 more times since soy chunks are very neutral.
I then use the same pan for stir-frying.
COOKING THE REST OF THE MONGOLIAN “BEEF” AND MUSHROOMS
Heat the same pan over medium high heat. You can add some oil.
In the same pan, add in the mushrooms. Pan-fry these over medium high heat until lightly browned. Leave the mushrooms untouched for a few minutes on each side to allow these to release its water.
Move the mushrooms to the side of the pan then add a bit of oil. Sauté the garlic and ginger until aromatic, around 1-2 minutes.
Turn up the heat and then add in the white part of the scallions/green onions. Sauté until lightly browned and charred. Add in the ginger and garlic and saute fro 1-2 minutes.
Lower the heat to medium. Pour in the sauce and mix well until the sugar has dissolved. The sauce will slightly thicken from the sugar as it cooks down.
Add in the fried soy chunks and then give the slurry a good mix again.
Pour in the slurry into the sauce. Mix everything together until the sauce has thickened and coated the soy chunks.
Taste the soy chunks/mushrooms and season with more soy sauce, to taste, if needed.
Add in the green part of the scallions/onions and then turn up the heat too high. Give everything another good mix and then turn off the heat.
Serve and enjoy immediately while the pieces are still slightly crisp. This is best enjoyed with steamed rice.
Find the full recipe below! ◡̈
OTHER RECIPES YOU MIGHT ENJOY:
- Chinese Green Bean and Mushroom Stir-Fry
- Crispy Wontons
- Vegetable Dumplings
- Chinese Chive Pies
- Pan-Fried Cabbage and Noodle Buns
- Wontons in Chili Broth
- Scallion and Sesame Buns
Vegan Mongolian “Beef” and Mushrooms
Ingredients
Protein
- 100 g dry soy chunks (see notes for sub)
- 100 g fresh mushrooms , I used oyster mushrooms
Marinade for soy chunks
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine or other rice wine, optional
Coating for chunks & frying
- 1/4 cup corn starch plus 1-2 tbsp more if needed
- Neutral oil for frying
Sauce
- 2-3 tbsp soy sauce adjust to taste (see notes)
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 tsp dark soy sauce for colour (see notes)
- 2-4 tbsp brown sugar , adjust according to desired sweetness
Slurry
- 1/2 tbsp corn starch
- 1 tbsp room temperature water
For stir frying
- Neutral oil for frying
- 2 tsp minced ginger
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 4 green onions or scallions sliced into 2” long pieces, white and green parts separated
Instructions
- You can watch the video below or see the photos above to see a step-by-step on how this dish is cooked.
- Rehydrating the soy chunks: Rehydrate the soy chunks by placing these in a bowl and soaking in boiling hot water until doubled or even tripled in size. You can also rehydrate the chunks overnight. I simple place these in a container and add room temperature water to soak the chunks in.
- Squeeze out the liquid from each soy chunk. If your soy chunks are the type that are in larger pieces (like mine), you can break these apart into small pieces.
- Afterwards, pour in the soy sauce and Shaoxing or other rice wine, if using. Mix well and set aside.
- Meanwhile, prepare the sauce by mixing everything together. Feel free to adjust to your taste. You can start with 2 tbsp soy sauce and just add in more soy sauce, to taste, after cooking later on. Set aside.
- For the slurry, mix together the corn starch and water until dissolved. Set aside.
- Coating the soy chunks: place the corn starch with the soy chunks and then mix well. Soy chunks do tend to hold a lot of liquid so if the pieces still come out wet even with corn starch, that’s totally fine. You can add 1-2 more tablespoons of starch to coat the pieces well.
- Frying: heat a large frying pan or wok over high heat. Add enough oil to the pan to be able to submerge the chunks at least halfway.
- Once you see small bubbles in the oil, you can test out the heat with a small piece. If it immediately and rapidly sizzles in the oil, it’s hot enough.
- Add the soy chunks into the oil. You may need to do this in batches depending on the size of your pan.
- Fry the chunks until golden brown and really crisp throughout, around 3-5 minutes in total. Keep at eye out to make sure they don’t burn!
- Drain the chunks from the oil then turn off the heat. Remove the oil from the pan. I like to transfer mine into my oil dispenser since I can still use this oil for other recipes since soy chunks are very neutral.
- Stir-frying: In the same pan, add in the mushrooms. Pan-fry these over medium high heat until lightly browned. Leave the mushrooms untouched for a few minutes on each side to allow these to release its water.
- Move the mushrooms to the side of the pan then add a bit of oil. Sauté the garlic and ginger until aromatic, around 1-2 minutes.
- Turn up the heat and then add in the white part of the scallions/green onions. Sauté until lightly browned and charred. Lower the heat to medium. Pour in the sauce and mix well until the sugar has dissolved. The sauce will slightly thicken from the sugar as it cooks down.
- Add in the fried soy chunks and then give the slurry a good mix again. Pour in the slurry into the sauce. Mix everything together until the sauce has thickened and coated the soy chunks. Taste the soy chunks/mushrooms and season with more soy sauce, to taste, if needed. Add in the green part of the scallions/onions and then turn up the heat too high. Give everything another good mix and then turn off the heat.
- Serve and enjoy immediately while the pieces are still slightly crisp. This is best enjoyed with steamed rice.
WATCH Video
Notes
Soy Chunks/Plant-Based Meat
If you don’t have access to dry soy chunks, you can use other plant-based meat substitutes from your local stores or grocery. Some of these may come frozen or chilled and you’ll need to prepare them depending on the package instructions. Here’s the exact soy meat I used! PS. Link is not an affiliate link. I purchased these from Shopee and can be shipped in the Philippines. For my US-based friends, here are similar meat substitutes that you can find on Amazon: (these are affiliate links)Soy Sauce
- Soy chunks absorb flavour really well so I suggest to start with 2 tbsp soy sauce first and then just season it more when cooking later on. I had some of these for leftovers and noticed that the sauce was absorbed even more by the soy chunks so if you don’t want it on the salty side, especially when eating leftovers, you can start with 2 tbsp soy sauce.
Dark soy sauce
- Dark soy sauce is used here for colour so feel free to leave this out. This adds a layer of flavour too so you will need to season with a bit more soy sauce to taste, if needed.
NUTRITIONAL INFO
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This Post Has 9 Comments
Wow! Made this tonight for the family and everyone loved it! Can’t wait to try more of your recipes. Thank you for sharing. Sooooo delicious!!
Thanks so much Claire!! Happy you all enjoyed 🙂
Perfect! My husband loved it)
Thanks Rina!! ◡̈ glad you guys enjoyed
This is amazing! I’ve not tried making a Mongolian sauce from scratch before and this one was perfect. 🙂
Yay! Hope you liked it Elly ◡̈
Perfect
Excellent and so simple. Thank you!
Thank you Natalia!! ◡̈