Broccoli Beef

My mom used to fix Chinese food a lot before I was born. Actually the last time she made stir fry, she was pregnant with me. She was using a wok, which heats up extremely fast, so soy sauce was splattering everywhere. When my Dad walked in from work, he heard her say, “I’m never doing this again”! He thought she was talking about getting pregnant! haha 🙂 In actuality, my mom was referring to the wok.

The recipe for Broccoli Beef comes from the “Steamy Kitchen” cookbook. The beef was very tender, the sauce flavorful, but not overpowering, and the broccoli and rice were perfect complements. Enjoy!

Ingredients for the beef marinade: soy sauce, Chinese rice wine, cornstarch, black pepper

Stir together the soy sauce, rice wine, cornstarch, and pepper. This is the beef marinade.

Add sauce to the beef slices and let stand for 10 minutes.

Stir together the sauce ingredients: oyster sauce, Chinese rice wine, soy sauce, and chicken broth.

Blanch the broccoli in a small pot of boiling water for 2 minutes.

Cook the beef on high heat with cooking oil for about 1 minute. Add the garlic and fry for another 30 seconds to 1 minute until beef is no longer pink. Pour in the sauce and add the blanched broccoli. Bring to a boil. Pour in the cornstarch and cook until the sauce boils and thickens, 30 seconds.

Serve over brown rice.

Broccoli Beef
Ingredients
3/4 lb flank or sirloin, sliced thinly across the grain
3/4 lb broccoli florets
2 tbsp high-heat cooking oil
2 cloves garlic, very finely minced using a garlic press
1 tsp cornstarch, dissolved in 1 tbsp water

For the beef marinade
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp Chinese rice wine (or dry sherry)
1/2 tsp cornstarch
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper

For the sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp Chinese rice wine (or dry sherry)
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/4 cup chicken broth

Directions
1. Marinate the beef: Stir together the beef marinade ingredients in a medium bowl. Add the beef slices and stir until coated. Let stand 10 minutes.
2. Prepare the sauce: Stir together the sauce ingredients in a small bowl.
3. Blanch the broccoli: Cook the broccoli in a small pot of boiling, salted water until tender-crisp, about 2 minutes. Drain thoroughly.
4. Heat a large frying pan or wok over high high until a bead of water sizzles and instantly evaporates upon contact.
5. Add the cooking oil and swirl to coat.
6. Add the beef and immediately spread the beef out all over the surface of the work or pan in a single layer. Let the beef fry undisturbed for 1 minute.
7. Flip the beef slices over, add the garlic to the pan and fry for an additional 30 seconds to 1 minute until no longer pink.
8. Pour in the sauce, add the blanched broccoli and bring to a boil. Pour in the dissolved cornstarch and cook, stirring, until the sauce boils and thickens, 30 seconds.