Giveaways

Broccoli Beef (Beef and Broccoli)

Broccoli Beef

Americans love Broccoli Beef—the utmost Chinese beef stir-fry dish with broccoli, slathered in the all too familiar rich brown sauce. Broccoli Beef is the poster child of American-Chinese food; it’s recognizably Chinese even though the traditional Chinese broccoli had been replaced with the accessible and widely available “western” broccoli.

Broccoli beef is a great dish, if cooked properly, that is, without dousing the beef in a thick goopy sauce and accompanied by overcooked broccoli. The beef should be tender and succulent; the broccoli should be flashed cooked, briefly blanched and then lightly stir-fried with the beef; the sauce should be light. If you have these three premise right, you might well have an almost authentic version of Broccoli Beef.

Here is my easy broccoli beef recipe, which calls for a few ingredients: broccoli, beef, and Chinese marinates.

Broccoli Beef Recipe
Serves 4 as part of multicourse meal 

8 oz (250 g) beef tenderloin, flank steak or flap meat, cut into pieces
6 oz (175 g) broccoli florets
Water, for boiling
2 ½ tablespoons oil
2-in (5 cm) ginger, peeled and sliced

Marinade

½ tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon rice wine or sherry
¼ teaspoon sesame oil
3 dashes white pepper
1 tablespoon corn starch

Sauce

1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
¼ teaspoon sesame oil
½ teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon corn starch
4 tablespoons water

  1. Marinate the beef with all the ingredients for the Marinade, about 15 minutes.
  2. Bring the water to boil and add a few drops of oil. Blanch the broccoli florets in the hot water, about 10 seconds. Remove the broccoli immediately with a strainer or slotted spoon, draining the excess water. Set aside.
  3. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a wok or skillet over high heat. Stir-fry the beef until 70% cooked. Dish out and set aside.
  4. Heat the remaining oil in a wok or skillet over high heat. Add the ginger and stir-fry until aromatic. Transfer the beef into the wok or skillet and stir-fry until the beef is cooked through and the center of the meat is no longer pink, about 1-2 minutes. Add the broccoli and then the Sauce, stir to combine the ingredients well.
  5. As soon as the Sauce thickens, dish out and serve immediately.