Mongolian Beef (Copycat P.F. Chang's)

Ingredients:

• 1-2 pounds beef, cut into strips (suggestion: flank steak or stir fry beef strips)
• For the marinade:
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 Tablespoon corn starch
• 1 Tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
• 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
• For the sauce:
• 4 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 2 Tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 cup soy sauce
• 1 cup water
• 1 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 3 Tablespoons cold water + 1 1/2 Tbalespoons corn starch
• Optional: sliced green onions, sesame seeds.

Directions:

1. Combine all marinade ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until combined. Pour into a zip-lock back with beef strips, seal and chill 1 hour or overnight.
2. Drain marinade from zip-lock and set beef aside.
3. In a medium sauce pan combine sauce ingredients. Stir and heat over medium high heat until brown sugar has dissolved. While sauce is cooking, whisk together corn starch and water in a small bowl until corn starch is dissolved. Bring sauce to a boil, then reduce heat to medium low and stir in corn starch-water mixture. Allow sauce to thicken slightly, then remove from heat. 
4. In a large pan or skillet pan or skillet, cook beef strips over medium high heat until cooked through (5-8 minutes) turning strips over throughout to ensure even cooking, reduce heat to medium. Add 1/2 - 1 cup sauce (depending on how "saucy" you want your beef). Stir and cook 1-2 minutes longer.
5. Serve over rice with green onions and sesame seeds if desired.

*Note: This recipe makes a large batch of the sauce, more than you will need for your beef. You may half the recipe if you'd like, or we like to use the extra over rice.

~Recipe adapted from cremedelacrumb.com