Monday, December 19, 2011

Going Mongolian in my Aunt's Place

Sundays are always special at my Aunt's place. Once a week, everyone gets together to share fun times and great food. And the Dude's nephew just arrived from Australia to spend the holidays here, enough reason to celebrate and spend some good times and good food. And for this Sunday, the Dude's aunt goes Mongolian. Very cool.


What can be more fun than creating your own bowl, selecting your own ingredients and then cooking it? Mongolian barbecue involves stir-frying meat, seafood and vegetables on a super-heated cast iron griddle or pan, allowing all the ingredients to cook evenly and blend all the flavors.




The first step is to prepare your very own sauce base, by combining a soy based sauce, a sweet teriyaki blend and a chili soy sauce. You can vary the amount of heat by adding more of the chili sauce to suit your taste. Other condiments include chopped garlic, ground peanuts, brown sugar, and sesame oil.


Then layer the bowl with vegetables like bean sprouts and cabbage. You may also add onions, sliced carrots and other vegetables. The great thing about this type of meal is that anything goes, really.


Then add some thinly sliced beef, shrimps, chicken and squid (partially covered on the top left). You may add other items like pork and oysters, or other seafood. You then add some freshly cooked rice to bind all the ingredients together. You may also opt for glass noodles or go all meat or seafood with vegetables combination.


Then your bowl is smartly labeled by my Aunt's cook with a washable marker (my Aunt's cook is a genius), and the stir-fry assembly line begins...with the contents of your bowl going directly on a hot griddle or pan as you wait in anticipation. 


After a few minutes, your bowl is ready, fresh off the griddle...


Going for seconds? Definitely.


In the end, it's all about family, and great meals simply strengthens the bond. Good food and good times. Yup, Sundays at my Aunt's place is pretty awesome.

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16 comments:

  1. This looks delicious! Glad you had a wonderful time (and meal) with your family. By the way, did you know that despite the name it's actually not Mongolian, and it was invented in Taiwan? I didn't know about this until recently.

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  2. Hey Ducky, you are right, I think it was first introduced in Taiwan in the 70's... I guess calling it "Mongolian" would give this spin on Teppanyaki style cooking a more interesting image. Thanks for sharing the info, Ducky!

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  3. We have a Mongolian bbq place locally and I love it!! It's so fun to create your own unique dish tailored to your individual taste. I am so impressed by your Aunt's home version... it's so much food!! Look at all that shrimp...chicken and beef. It looks like the restaurant. :) I haven't been to the Mongolian restaurant in a while... now I'm definitely going. :) Hope you have a very Merry Christmas... enjoy all the food. :)

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  4. Hi Ramona, yeah, my Aunt really perfected this down to the queueing system so that your bowl doesn't get mixed up with the others. It's amazing when everyone enjoys the same meal yet each bowl is different from the others. Thanks, Ramona!

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  5. I love the idea of this - pick and choose what you like and to your own taste. I've done it at home a few times a bit similar to this and it's such great fun and everyone really enjoys it.

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  6. It's fun and great for large groups and families, it's also fun to experiment a bit with the different ingredients. Thanks for dropping by!

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  7. I'd definitely go for thirds, never mind seconds! It looks great. The photos are amazing, especially the first one -- it just blew me away with the steam rising off the food.

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  8. Hi Nicole, I will definitely join you for thirds! Thanks, Nicole!

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  9. I love this time of year, family, friends, good food and giving. Nice pictures.

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  10. I don't have aunt who can dish out Mongolian on a lovely weekend, but your post is very inspiring I may have to do this one of these days. Thank you for sharing this food dude!

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  11. Mongolian like the country mongolia? thats exciting! looks all so wonderful. I wish I had an aunt like that. Happy Christmas!

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  12. hey Helene, thanks! And Merry Christmas to you too!

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  13. Hi Yedy, thanks! It's a fun meal for family and friends!

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  14. Oh My! What a delicious feast, mouthwatering here...

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