My folks love their nearby “Mongolian” Barbecue place, HuHot. They’re wild about it and so am I…but the cost makes me crazy, especially for what we get – which is delicious, no doubt, but is basically (for them) a big bowl of noodles with about an ounce of meat and for me mostly veggies. Could I do better at home? You tell me…
Mongolian Barbecue Noodle Bowls
These Mongolian Barbecue Noodle Bowls are full of whatever veggies you like (I used onion, green & purple cabbage, tomatoes & jalapeno this time), noodles of your choice, a kicked up mish-mash of a sauce (because that’s what we do at the restaurant and this one is fantastic) and a little leftover…steak.
Yep, the folks have been at the steak, yet again, and yet again, couldn’t eat it all. But that’s ok because I used every precious morsel of that expensive steak in the Mongolian Bowls and stretched it as far as it could go. 🙂 Be sure to click on the tag for leftover steak at the bottom of the page for my ever growing collection of recipes.
You can use any protein you’d like, leftover or fresh: thinly sliced chicken breast, beef, tofu, shrimp, sausage…it’s your call. If it’s raw, your best bet is to quickly stir fry it first and set it aside as you cook the rest of the ingredients and if it’s cooked, add it in at the end.
Mongolian Barbecue Noodle Bowls
Mongolian Barbecue Noodle Bowls are a great way to use any leftover veggies that could be languishing in the fridge. With a well stocked fridge & pantry (stock up on Asian ingredients in January where they’re often on unadvertised sale for Chinese New Year or hit up a market) you can make these bowls at a whim.
Cost for this meal at home ran about eight bucks for four servings. Yep, that’s total. The small portion of steak was about $3.50, the noodles about 75 cents, the veggies about 2 bucks. The sauce? An educated guess at about a dollar. That sure beats out the $16.95 a piece ($67.80 for four) they pay at their Mongolian barbecue, which doesn’t include a drink, tax or tip.
Best of all, this meal can be as decadent or as healthy as you’d like, as mild or as hot as you can handle, and comes to the table in well under 30 minutes. With all that extra bank and time, I’d like to suggest a first course of some of the best Hot & Sour Soup you’ve ever tasted!
Mongolian Barbecue Noodle Bowls
Mongolian Barbecue Noodle Bowl
The sauce:
- 4 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
- 1 – 2 tablespoons sambal oelek or gochujang (see note)
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- multiple dashes Mongolian fire oil, to taste
- 1/2 to 1 tablespoon grated ginger
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- good pinch of sugar
Mix together all ingredients. Taste and adjust the flavors, adding a little more of this or that until you have your perfect blend. Remember, this will be flavoring the noodles, which are bland by nature, so err on the side of liveliness. Set aside.
The rest of the team:
- 3 packages of instant ramen, spice packet discarded, cooked according to directions, drained and rinsed, or another noodle of your choice, cooked
- 4 to 6 ounces steak, cooked and thinly sliced against the grain (see note)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 1 onion, vertically sliced
- 2 to 3 cups thinly sliced cabbage (try a mix of purple and a green)
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 or 2 tomatoes, in wedges
- 1 chile, thinly sliced (we used jalapeno)
- sesame seeds for garnish
Add a tablespoon of oil to large pan or wok and heat. Add onion and cabbage and saute, stirring now and then, until crisp/tender. Add the garlic, then remove to a large plate or bowl.
Add another tablespoon oil to the skillet (no need to clean) and add in the noodles and sauce, tossing until just warmed through. Add the vegetables back in, along with the steak and toss, off heat.
Divide into bowls and garnish with sesame seeds.
notes:
- You control the heat level of the sauce; if you don’t have the ingredients try red chili flakes.
- If you don’t have any leftover steak, try this with almost any leftover protein you do have. If you need to cook something, add a little oil to the skillet, heat to medium high and add very thinly sliced chicken breast, steak, pork, or whole small shrimp or tofu and cook until just done; it will continue to cook from residual heat and cook a bit more when added to the final dish. Set aside and add back in with the veggies.
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Servings 4.0 | |
| Amount Per Serving | |
| calories 385 | |
| % Daily Value * | |
| Total Fat 19 g | 29 % |
| Saturated Fat 5 g | 24 % |
| Monounsaturated Fat 6 g | |
| Polyunsaturated Fat 2 g | |
| Trans Fat 0 g | |
| Cholesterol 16 mg | 5 % |
| Sodium 2234 mg | 93 % |
| Potassium 188 mg | 5 % |
| Total Carbohydrate 37 g | 12 % |
| Dietary Fiber 3 g | 11 % |
| Sugars 6 g | |
| Protein 11 g | 23 % |
| Vitamin A | 5 % |
| Vitamin C | 51 % |
| Calcium | 8 % |
| Iron | 9 % |
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I’m toting this recipe over to Angie’s Fiesta Friday #185, hosted this week by Suzanne @ apuginthekitchen and Monika @ Everyday Healthy Recipes. I encourage you to take a second or two, click over to the party and see what it’s about. Angie has one of the most amazing link ups and it’s so much fun to see what the bloggers are making each week.
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