Foodwizardry

Slow-cooker Mongolian beef with coconut rice

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I have always loved rich, Asian-inspired stews, and this is exactly the sort of dish that makes a slow cooker earn its place in the kitchen. The beef becomes tender in a glossy, sweet-savoury sauce of soy, ginger, garlic and chilli, while coconut rice makes the perfect soft, fragrant partner.

It is also ideal when you have people coming over: prepare the beef in advance, let the slow cooker do the work and make the rice shortly before serving. You get all the praise without spending the evening tied to the hob.

Serves

4 generously

Preparation

25 minutes

Slow cooking

2½ hours on high

Ingredients

For the Mongolian-style beef

  • 750g flank steak or lean stewing steak
  • 30g cornflour
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 20g fresh ginger, finely grated
  • 1½ tsp chilli flakes
  • 75g light brown muscovado sugar
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 150ml water, plus extra if needed
  • 120ml reduced-salt soy sauce
  • 150g carrots, coarsely grated

For the coconut rice and garnish

  • 300g basmati rice
  • 1 × 400ml tin coconut milk
  • 150ml water
  • ½ tsp olive oil
  • 3 spring onions, finely sliced diagonally
  • 2 tbsp sesame seeds, lightly toasted
  • 1 fresh red chilli, finely sliced (optional)
Mongolian-style beef cooking in the slow cooker

Method

  1. Preheat the slow cooker. Set it to high about 15 minutes before adding the ingredients.
  2. Prepare the beef. Trim away any large pieces of fat, then cut the meat across the grain into thin strips about 1cm wide. Put the strips into a large food bag or bowl, add the cornflour and toss until every piece is lightly coated.
  3. Build the sauce. Add the garlic, ginger, chilli flakes, sugar, olive oil, water and soy sauce to the warm slow cooker. Stir until the sugar begins to dissolve.
  4. Cook the beef. Add the coated beef and stir well. Cover and cook on high for 2 hours, stirring after the first hour. The cornflour and sugar will gradually thicken the sauce; add a small splash of water if it becomes too thick.
  5. Add the carrots. Stir in the grated carrots, cover again and cook for another 30 minutes, until the beef is tender and the sauce is glossy.
  6. Make the coconut rice. Rinse the basmati rice until the water runs mostly clear. Warm the oil in a medium saucepan, add the rice and stir briefly. Pour in the full 400ml tin of coconut milk, then use the empty tin to measure just over one-third of a tin of water—about 150ml. This keeps the total liquid close to my preferred ratio of one measure of rice to one and a half measures of liquid; I find the more common 1:2 ratio makes the rice too soft. Bring gently to the boil, cover, reduce the heat to its lowest setting and cook for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and leave covered for 5 minutes before fluffing with a fork.
  7. Finish and serve. Spoon the coconut rice into warm bowls and top with the beef. Scatter over the spring onions, toasted sesame seeds and fresh chilli, if using.

Catherine’s tip

For neat, tender strips, place the beef in the freezer for 20–30 minutes before slicing—it will firm up just enough to make cutting across the grain much easier. Keep an eye on the sauce during the final half-hour too: slow cookers vary, so loosen it with a tablespoon or two of water if it becomes stickier than you like.

If you enjoy a low-effort slow-cooker dinner, try my slow-cooker Mexican chicken stew next.