P.F. Chang’s Mongolian Beef Secrets Revealed

A comprehensive guide to P.F. Chang’s Mongolian Beef at home! Mongolian Beef is PF Chang’s most popular menu item! Today, I’ll break down all the tips, tricks, and techniques so you’ll be able to make P.F Chang Mongolian Beef at home even better than the restaurant! And for a fraction of the cost!

Full recipe document: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lNjEMuC_Vm8fnCtlQm_HzyURdVb03p2Wwz8YDst6VVs/edit?usp=sharing

Wanna learn how to make world-class beef pho at home? Check out this link: https://youtu.be/wcGwrSZFoQ8

Ingredients:

Lee Kum Kee Less Sodium soy sauce: https://geni.us/s7oUST
Lee Kum Kee Mushroom soy sauce: https://geni.us/NkpS1cQ
Kikkoman Soy sauce: https://geni.us/ceyH1s
Kikkoman Low Sodium soy sauce: https://geni.us/DvY9K
Lee Kum Kee Panda Brand oyster sauce: https://geni.us/Ohr1
Lee Kum Kee Premium oyster sauce: https://geni.us/WJ3uM5
Lee Kum Kee chicken bouillon powder: https://geni.us/Z8NlPz
Knorr chicken bouillon powder: https://geni.us/qRslgi
Michiu Rice Cooking Wine: https://geni.us/3L6yZTn
Shaoxing Rice Cooking Wine: https://amzn.to/3rE2nPO
Baking Soda: https://geni.us/HSDr
Potato Starch: https://geni.us/KSad
Corn Starch: https://geni.us/NTH4v4
White Pepper: https://geni.us/ZMEiegw
Dehydrated Minced Garlic: https://geni.us/DTtJNsj
Sesame oil: https://geni.us/CgcpNw
White Sugar: https://geni.us/UWud7AM

Kitchen gear in video:

Wok: https://geni.us/yppwqb
Misono UX10 Chef’s Knife: https://geni.us/0NB5
Induction Cooktop: https://geni.us/mOpIF
John Boos Work Table: https://geni.us/XZXk
Diamond Brand Kosher Salt: https://geni.us/PiO2h
Butane burner: https://geni.us/yXYxEf9
All Clad Sauce Pot: https://geni.us/HXmqE
Anchor measuring cups: https://geni.us/Jplij
Le Creuset Dutch Oven: https://geni.us/rzZwFz
Spider Strainer: https://geni.us/YOU8Cq

Music by Epidemic Sound (free 30-day trial! Affiliate link): https://share.epidemicsound.com/v23gld

Affiliate disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, Jason Farmer may earn commissions from qualifying purchases from amazon.com

Today I’m going to show you the correct recipe for P.F. Chang’s Mongolian Beef. We’ll go over the precise ingredients they use at the restaurant. I’ll reveal the closely guarded secrets behind their long-sought-after dark sauce. And we’ll discuss the unique two-step process P.F. Chang’s uses to get the most tender beef imaginable.

Now, there’s been much speculation online about the authentic recipe for P.F. Chang’s dark sauce. And I’m happy to report that what follows is the actual recipe used at the restaurant. But before we get started, I want to give you a super quick rundown of the exact ingredients you’ll need.

To start, P.F. Chang’s currently uses Lee Kum Kee low-sodium soy sauce. The one in the green bottle. In the past, they used Kikkoman for all their marinades and sauces, but have since switched to Lee Kum Kee. I’ve made the dark sauce with both, and to be completely

Honest with you, there isn’t that much difference. Kikkoman is slightly sweeter and a bit more linear in taste. While Lee Kum Kee, despite being low-sodium, has a saltier, more complex flavor than Kikkoman. So which one should you use? At the end of the day, it’s up to you. In my experiments

– I found I preferred Kikkoman for the alkaline soy marinade, which we’ll go over in just a minute; and the Lee Kum Kee for the dark soy sauce. But the differences are negligible. To color the sauce, P.F. Chang’s uses Lee Kum Kee’s mushroom-flavored dark soy sauce.

If you’re not familiar with dark soy sauce, it’s typically added to dishes more for color and less for flavor. But mushroom soy sauce has the added benefit of mushroom seasoning for extra savoriness. And you should be able to find some version of a mushroom soy sauce at most Asian grocery stores.

For the oyster sauce, P.F. Chang’s uses Lee Kum Kee Panda brand oyster flavored sauce in the green bottle. And this is the gluten-free version with no added MSG. All of Lee Kum Kee’s oyster sauces are legit, but if you’re able to find their premium oyster sauce, the

One with the idyllic scene of a mother and son harvesting gargantuan oysters on the label – this is the one I recommend. For the base of the sauce, P.F. Chang’s uses a defatted chicken bouillon powder that isn’t commercially available. But I’ve found that both Knorr and Lee Kum Kee chicken

Broth powder replicate the flavor exactly. What you want to stay away from are Western-style chicken bouillon cubes. This is because they tend to have unsightly bits of dehydrated parsley in them that you don’t really see in Asian-style sauces. But if you’re not

Concerned with visual appearance, really, any chicken broth or stock will work for the dark sauce. And finally, for the rice wine, P.F. Chang’s uses a style called Michiu. This is a very popular choice for cooking wine in many Cantonese and Taiwanese kitchens. It’s very similar

To the more popular Shaoxing wine, and while there are some subtle differences flavorwise, they are essentially interchangeable. You should be able to find Michiu at most Asian grocery stores, and it is available on Amazon. But if you’re not able to locate it, just grab a bottle of Shaoxing.

Now, to make the sauce, let’s start by adding ¼ cup of water to a small pot. Then toss in ½ tsp of chicken broth powder and ¼ cup of white granulated sugar. Bring it up to a simmer over medium heat, and whisk just until the sugar and chicken powder have totally dissolved.

Then kill the heat and add ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of mushroom soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce, and 2 tablespoons of Michiu or Shaoxing rice cooking wine. Give it a whisk until everything is incorporated and this is it. This is the actual

Recipe for P.F. Chang’s dark sauce. And after it has cooled down, you can keep the sauce covered in the fridge for up to a month. Now, for their Mongolian beef – P.F. Chang’s uses flank steak. Because of its pronounced

Beefy flavor, this is arguably the most popular choice for stir-fry dishes in Chinese restaurants. And although its price has increased over the past several years, it’s still generally inexpensive and should be commonly available. One of the biggest problems home cooks face when dealing with flank steak is how to properly

Prepare it for stir fry. Because of the long muscle fibers in this particular cut, if you slice it incorrectly, it can become inedibly chewy. To ensure tenderness, P.F. Chang’s uses a two-step process that involves an alkaline soy marinade and an egg white velveting coating that helps their proteins stay succulent and

Juicy even with the high heat of wok cooking. But before we get to that, we’ll need to section the meat first. Here I’ve got a 12 oz. flank steak. To start, what you want to do is identify the long muscle

Fibers that run along the steak. We’ll first make about 1.5-inch cuts with the grain to get our meat into manageable pieces. You might notice in some places the fibers grab the wheel and veer off the road diagonally, so you might have to portion these little pieces off to deal with them individually.

Then take each of these sections and turn them perpendicular to you; take your knife, tilt it at about a 30-40 degree angle, and cut them into about ⅛ inch slices. If you’re having problems slicing the beef thinly enough, toss it in the freezer for about 20-30 minutes

And this will firm it up, making it much easier to cut. And this is what the beef slices should look like if you’ve done it correctly. The next step is preparing the alkaline soy marinade. And P.F. Chang’s uses this on

Almost all their protein. This brine not only tenderizes the meat even further, but it also flavors the beef, seasoning all the way through. And to make it, it’s ridiculously simple. All you’ll do is take 1 cup of water, and

To that, add ½ tsp of baking soda and stir to dissolve. This will raise the PH of the water to make it more alkaline. What this does is make it harder for protein bands in the meat to tighten during the high

Heat of wok cooking. This is what most Chinese restaurants use to give their proteins that fork-tender texture often associated with takeout-style stir-fry meat. If you’ve ever added baking soda directly to a protein and felt like it gave it an off-flavor,

Using a brine like this is a way we can get all the tenderizing effects of baking soda, without it imparting such flavors. Then to the alkaline water add ⅓ cup of soy sauce. Give a brief stir to incorporate it and toss in the sliced flank steak.

And you’ll want to marinate the meat for at least two hours. P.F. Chang’s actually brines all their protein for at least 24 hours, and I have noticed longer marination times do improve both the texture and flavor; so if you can swing it, I recommend at least

A day. And just make sure you refrigerate it the entire time. After the marination, P.F. Chang’s velvets their beef slices. If you’ve never heard of velveting, it’s essentially a type of batter, usually made with egg and some sort of starch that helps keep the meat extra tender.

Basically what it’s doing is creating a layer between the protein and the cooking surface so it cooks more gently. To get started, let’s remove the beef slices from the brine and pat them dry with paper towels. Drying the meat before velveting will help the batter more closely adhere to it.

Then we’ll add ½ of an egg white and ⅛ of a tsp of white pepper. Give it a stir so the meat is evenly covered in the egg batter. Next, toss in 1 tbsp of potato starch and gently massage it into the beef slices so they’re all covered.

And I’ve gotten some conflicting reports of whether or not P.F. Chang’s uses a starch for their Mongolian beef. Most of the people I’ve spoken with tell me they use potato starch. A handful told me they use cornstarch. And others have said they only use egg and white pepper.

So, I tested all three methods – potato starch, cornstarch, and egg only. The potato and cornstarch beef slices are virtually indistinguishable. So, whichever one you can grab should be fine. The egg-only version was noticeably tougher than the slices that used starch. So, I highly recommend adding a starch to your velveting process.

To finish, toss in 1 tsp of a neutral oil and give the meat a stir so it’s evenly distributed. And you’ll want to let this sit for at least 30 minutes or up to overnight in the fridge before cooking.

To cook the beef, let’s heat some frying oil to 350 degrees. Then, working in batches, fry the meat for about 60-90 seconds, making sure to agitate it while it’s cooking so the meat doesn’t clump together. And this step in the velveting process is called, “passing

Through the oil.” We’re basically cooking the meat before the final stir-fry so the finishing process should only take us a couple of minutes to complete the dish. Then drain the beef slices on a wire rack or a plate lined with paper towels and set it aside.

To finish the dish, you want to make sure you have all your ingredients assembled beforehand. Because the meat is already cooked, the final dish comes together in a matter of just a couple of minutes. We’ll go over everything you need while we’re making the dish, but

Before we start, I need to tell you about the special type of garlic P.F. Chang’s uses in all of their dishes. What you want to look for is dehydrated, minced garlic. And you should be able to find this

At most grocery stores in the spice aisle. This is, as its name implies, minced garlic that has been dried so that it has no moisture in it. But why does P.F. Chang’s use this special type of garlic? I assume it’s to save on labor costs because chopping massive

Amounts of garlic takes forever. But it also has a couple of distinct culinary advantages, as well. Firstly, it doesn’t burn and stick to the hot pans as easily as fresh garlic. And secondly, it offers a slightly smoother and more concentrated garlic flavor.

To prepare it, you’ll just need to reconstitute it in hot water for about 20-30 minutes, and then drain it of all the water before using. And you can keep this in the fridge for about a week and use it anytime you need minced garlic.

And the last specialty ingredient we’ll need is sesame oil. P.F. Chang’s uses this as a finishing oil because of its rich, nutty flavor. You’ll see several different types at most Asian grocery stores. But what you want to look for is pure sesame oil. If you

Can only find toasted sesame oil, that will work. But the brand P.F. Chang’s uses is Lee Kum Kee pure sesame oil. Now, to start the cooking, let’s heat some neutral oil in a wok over medium-high heat.

When you’re up to temp, toss in 2 tsp of garlic and fry it for about 10-15 seconds. And you don’t want to let this brown, you just want to let it flavor the oil a bit.

Then add ¼ cup of the prepared dark sauce and 1 tbsp of white sugar. Give it a stir so the sugar dissolves. Bring the sauce up to a boil, and let it reduce slightly and thicken for about 30 seconds.

Add the prepared flank steak and toss it in the sauce. Cook for about 30-60 seconds longer, allowing the sauce to reduce a bit further. Then add ½ tsp of sesame oil and 1-2 ounces of green onion tops that have been cut into pieces about 2 inches long. Toss everything

Together and continue to cook for about 15-20 seconds longer, then kill the heat. And this is it. This is the actual recipe used at P.F. Chang’s for their signature Mongolian Beef. And quickly, before our taste test, and before the culinary historians in the comment section

Have a conniption, I want to state for the record that this dish is not actually a Mongolian creation. It was apparently invented in Taiwan, named after Mongolian BBQ, then popularized in American-Chinese takeout kitchens. So, let’s squash the Mongolian beef and recognize this as a true marvel of international culinary cooperation!

Now, let’s give it a taste test and see how we did. This is indistinguishable from P.F. Chang’s version. And even though it’s not a real Mongolian dish, it’s still a classic of Chinese takeout cuisine. And it’s an amazing dish to have in your repertoire.

And if you want to learn all the secrets behind world-class Vietnamese pho, make sure to check out this video. Thanks for watching. See you next time.