It takes eight to nine minutes to cook Shungu's Mongolian beef recipe, making it quick and uncomplicated.
If you're concerned that velveting alone won't sufficiently tenderize a tough flank steak, there are two routes you can go.
One is to use a more well-marbled cut of meat such as top sirloin, ribeye, or even the fabled filet mignon.
The other, and likely cheaper, route, however, is to marinate the meat first, a step that is called for in many Mongolian beef recipes.
He marinates his flank steak for a few hours in a mixture of baking soda, cornstarch, salt, oil, and water.
While baking soda is alkaline, it breaks down meat like an acidic marinade, while cornstarch gives beef a "fun, kind of slippery texture."
Soy sauce and Shaoxing wine are added to other Mongolian meat marinades, but he leaves it to salt.