Chinese Beef and Broccoli
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil (I like sunflower oil)
- ½ large onion sliced thin
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic (about 4 cloves)
- ½ pound sirloin or bottom round steak sliced into thin strips
- 1 pound fresh broccoli florets
Sticky Sauce
- 8 teaspoons soy sauce (2 Tablespoons + 2 teaspoons)
- 1 Tablespoon brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 4 teaspoons corn starch
- 1 cup chicken broth
Instructions
Sticky Sauce
- In a medium sized bowl, mix together soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic powder and cornstarch until all the cornstarch is dissolved.
- Add in chicken broth and mix well. Set aside.
Stir fry
- Heat oil over high heat in a large, deep pan or a wok.
- Add onions to the wok and cook until beginning to turn translucent, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add in the minced garlic and beef and stir-fry until beef is brown, about another 2-3 minutes.
- Add broccoli and sticky sauce to the pan, cover, and cook for about 5-7 minutes or until broccoli is softened and sauce is thickened.
Notes
Like this recipe? Questions about this recipe?
Let us know in the comments!
Obligatory Fictional Backstory
While the obvious solution to getting anyone to eat broccoli is to cover it in cheese, I felt bad for those who are lactose intolerant or unable to eat cheese for any other reason. What are they supposed to do with their broccoli? Eat it dry? I said “Nay nay!”
I traveled to China for the answer. Well, not all the way to China, just to the Chinese restaurant on the corner. The Chinese are the masters of turning any vegetable into something people actually want to eat.
I ordered some beef and broccoli. My goodness was it delicious! Salty, slightly sweet, sticky sauce was the next best thing to cheese. This was it! I found the answer! Now, all I needed to do was reverse engineer the sauce that covered the beef and broccoli.
Using my genetically engineered super sense sniffing dog, Malfoy, as my assistant, I determined the perfect ratio of soy sauce, brown sugar and other ingredients to create a scrumptious sauce for my version of beef and broccoli. Malfoy thought there should be less garlic, but I think there was a flaw in his engineering so I ignored that comment.
The final recipe was good enough to rival nearly any takeout place – but don’t just take my word for it, try it yourself!
Real Talk
As I mentioned in my chicken lo mein post, I have allergies that prevent me from being able to eat “real” Chinese food from restaurants. Beef and broccoli is the second recipe I’ve successfully recreated at home. Astute readers may notice that the sauce is very similar to the one used in the lo mein.
You can make this in a deep pan, but really if you plan to make a lot of Chinese style food at home I recommend getting yourself a wok. They aren’t terribly expensive, I think I got mine for about $15, and they really make it so much easier to cook these kinds of recipes.
Fresh broccoli is the best option here – I think it holds its texture better and it won’t add much moisture to the sauce as it cooks like frozen might, which would result in it being too watery and not delightfully sticky.
