Try this Beef Broccoli recipe, or contribute your own.
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- sauce
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 2 teaspoons corn starch
- 2 cloves garlic finely minced
- 1 pound top sirloin or flank steak thinly sliced
- 1 pound fresh broccoli florets
- 1- inch piece ginger finely minced
- 1/3 cup oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon mirin (rice wine vinegar)
- Carbohydrate 83.5668838821923 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 7.95047364366731 g
- Fiber 23.6040631290948 g
- Protein 34.4832759652811 g
- Saturated Fat 1.05688998754665 g
- Serving Size 1 1 recipe (1785g)
- Sodium 4763.93319722292 mg
- Sugar 59.9628207530974 g
- Trans Fat 2.24958716757393 g
- Calories 464 calories
Step-by-step
- Place sliced meat in bowl. Mix together soy sauce, cornstarch and pepper then add to meat. Mix well and let marinate for 30 minutes.
- Bring 1 cup of water to a boil in a large pan or wok. Add broccoli florets and cover. Let cook for about 3 minutes or until broccoli is bright green and slightly soft. Drain and set aside.
- Mix together sauce ingredients and set aside.
- Heat oil in frying pan on medium high, add marinated meat and let brown on each side.
- Push meat to the side and add garlic and ginger. Stir fry for about 30 seconds or until you can smell the aromatics from the garlic and ginger. Then stir fry together with beef.
- Add in sauce and stir. Turn heat down and let simmer until sauce is slightly thickened. Then add broccoli and toss together.
Swapping the specified top sirloin or flank steak for a lean cut like tenderloin fundamentally alters the final dish because lean cuts lack internal connective tissue and can dry out rapidly under high heat, whereas cuts with moderate marbling render fat that enriches the pan sauce. Thinly slicing the beef strictly against the grain shortens the muscle fibers, resulting in tender pieces that readily absorb the soy sauce and cornstarch marinade during the thirty-minute resting window. When coating the meat, cornstarch serves a specific chemical function by creating a protective barrier that seals in moisture while thickening the eventual pan sauce as starches gelatinize around 205 degrees Fahrenheit.
Steaming the broccoli florets in boiling water for precisely three minutes prevents the cellular walls from collapsing entirely, keeping the vegetables bright green and crisp-tender before they rejoin the meat. Aromatics like finely minced garlic and fresh ginger require rapid thirty-second stir-frying next to the browned beef to release volatile oils without burning, as scorched alliums impart an unpleasantly bitter flavor to the oyster and mirin sauce base. If mirin is unavailable, dry sherry combined with a pinch of extra sugar provides an adequate substitute with a comparable acidity profile, though true rice wine adds subtle fermented depth that standard vinegars lack.
Scaling this preparation upward requires careful consideration of pan capacity, since overcrowding a standard frying pan causes the meat to steam in its own moisture rather than brown through Maillard reactions. Working in distinct batches ensures proper heat retention across the cooking surface, yielding caramelized edges on every slice of beef.
