What You Need to Know
Mongolian barbecue is a method of preparing stir-fried noodle dishes. Despite its name, the dish is not Mongolian, nor was it influenced by Mongolian cuisine. It was developed in Taiwan by a waishengren during the 1950s. Furthermore, it is also unrelated to actual barbecue traditions, since it is not cooked on a perforated grill above the smoke of an open flame, but rather a specialized flatiron grill. The kind of grill used to cook it is in the shape of a circle, and an upside-down wok was, in 1979, used to cook the dish in Taiwanese establishments. It has more in common with Teppanyaki.
Steps
- 1.
Taiwanese Mongolian Beef (Taiwan): Primary cooking method that creates characteristic smoky flavors
- 2.
Korean BBQ-Style Stir Fry (Korea): Adaptation using similar high-heat searing principles
- 3.
Japanese Teppanyaki Noodles (Japan): Inspired preparation method on flat iron grills