Mongolian Lamb Stir Fry with Onions

Mongolian lamb is a healthy, quick and easy stir fry that hits your taste buds with a zing!

Flavour-wise, it uses a blend of Asian ingredients to create a rich, spicy sensation, which works wonders with the tender strips of lamb. 

It’s a dish that should be cooked fast on a medium high to high heat to bring out the delicious flavours of its fresh ingredients.

Surprisingly, not Mongolia! 

Although Mongolian lamb is a dish that is traditionally cooked in Mongolia and has been for many years, it’s believed that the origins lie in neighbouring China.

Still, putting borders aside, this East Asian dish was created by nomadic people in climates where vegetables were scarce and animal protein was essential to survive the cold, harsh winters.

It is traditionally cooked over open fires and flavoured with typical Chinese/Mongolian spices. A simple dish, yet with magical flavours that have made it popular throughout the world.

Ingredients such as soy sauce, rice wine, chilli paste, garlic, ginger and Chinese five spice powder bring big flavour, while the secret to the tender lamb is in the marinade.  

Marinating the lamb for one hour – preferably overnight – makes it incredibly tasty and melt-in-your-mouth tender. This tenderness of the meat mixes with the rich umami and subtly sweet flavours of the soy and hoisin sauces and rice wine.

Add garlic and ginger, as well as the warmth of Chinese five spice powder, and you’ve got a great balance of flavour. 

I’ve used lamb fillet for this Mongolian lamb recipe. Lamb fillet comes from underneath the ribs of the lamb and is a very small, tender piece of meat. It doesn’t need much cooking, just a few minutes, which makes it perfect for stir fries.

Lamb rump is also great for stir fries. This cut comes from the back of the lamb. It’s lean, tender and full of flavour.

Just remember, with these cuts of lamb time is crucial. They only need a few minutes to become tender. So, be very careful not to overcook.

Marinating the lamb makes it incredibly tender and adds such a depth of flavour. The marinade consists of garlic, fresh ginger root, light soy sauce, Chinese rice wine, baking soda and cornflour.

Most of the marinade ingredients are typical flavours found in Mongolian or Chinese cooking, but what about baking soda and cornflour? Why are they needed in the marinade?

Using cornstarch in a marinade helps to protect the meat from the high heat of the wok. The starch also works as a binder, helping the liquid in the marinade to seep into the meat. 

Baking soda is an alkaline, which helps to balance out the acidity of the marinade. It also helps bring a beautiful brown colouring and tenderises the meat as it cooks. Baking soda is often used in “velveting” – a typical process in Chinese cooking that helps to brown meat when cooked in a wok.

The Mongolian sauce in this recipe is a blend of dark soy sauce (for the salty umami taste), hoisin sauce (for the salty/sweet flavour), Chinese rice wine (for the subtle sweet aroma) and Chinese five spice (for the spicy dimension), as well as sesame oil and cornstarch (for the velvety texture).

You can also use chilli paste to bring an extra kick!

For this Mongolian lamb stir fry I decided to serve rice. I find that rice works extremely well with different types of stir fry. The cooked rice has a nice soft texture that complements the tender lamb and onion in the stir fry. It’s great for soaking up all the delicious sauces from the Mongolian lamb stir fry. 

Alternatively, you can serve this Mongolian lamb with noodles. Give the cooked noodles a quick toss around in the pan with the stir fry for extra flavour. If you want a gluten-free Mongolian lamb dish, you can serve the stir fry with boiled quinoa or rice noodles instead.

You can store the dish for a couple of days in the fridge. Just keep it in an airtight container. Of course, you’ll lose the crunch of the spring onions, but this dish will probably taste even better next time around – once the flavours have had time to truly get to know each other!

Your Mongolian lamb leftovers will last around 3 days in the fridge. Trust me… you won’t be able to wait that long.

I’ve made this Mongolian lamb stir fry almost as simple as it can get. With onions being the only vegetable that I’ve used, I have made sure that the lamb is the hero of the dish. However, there is big scope to play here if you want to add more ingredients. 

To go with the flavours of Mongolian lamb, I would suggest chopped leek, sliced mushrooms or sugar snap peas. These vegetables are well suited to use in a stir fry. 

All you have to do is cut them up in small bite-sized pieces and they will cook in no time. Remember to keep the ingredients moving in the pan so they don’t burn. Hence the name, stir fry!

Other vegetables that could be used are baby sweetcorn or a handful of bean sprouts if you want to go more in the Asian direction. You could also go with carrot, broccoli and some leafy greens like spinach or chard.

If there is no way for you to get your hands on lamb, you can make the dish with beef or chicken instead. However, you will miss out on that unique lamb flavour that really shines in combination with the seasoning. 

Of course, you can also play with the spices. Your idea of spicy food might not be the same as mine and you should adjust the spice level according to your taste. If you find it too bland and lacking spice, don’t be afraid to add chilli. 

It’s what cooking is all about. Making food that YOU want to eat.