Beef and Broccoli Recipe
Make your favorite Chinese takeout at home with tender marinated steak, crisp broccoli, and a bold umami sauce all in under 60 minutes.
Ingredients
For the Marinade:
- 1 pound of flank steak – cut in half and very thinly sliced on a bias
- 1 egg white
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon coarse salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 tablespoons Shaoxing wine
- 4 small to medium sized heads of trimmed broccoli, about 4 to 5 cups trimmed
- cooking oil
For the Sauce:
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- ½ cup beef or chicken stock
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 4 cloves minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
- 2 thinly sliced green onions
- ½ peeled and thinly sliced carrot, optional
Instructions
For the Marinade:
- In a large bowl, thoroughly mix the steak, egg white, baking soda, soy sauce, sugar, salt, pepper, cornstarch, and Shaoxing wine. The meat should have a thin white-like film coating it. Cover and refrigerate for 30 to 60 minutes.
- In the meantime, cook the broccoli in a large pot of boiling salted water for exactly 90 seconds. Drain it and put it in a container of ice water to immediately stop the cooking process. Drain it and set it to the side.
For the Sauce:
- In a medium-sized bowl whisk together the soy sauce, oyster sauce, Shaoxing wine, sugar, beef stock, and cornstarch, and set to the side. The cornstarch should be dissolved entirely.
To Cook:
- Next, pull the beef out of the fridge. If you'd like, you can let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes at room temperature to remove the chill.
- Place the work on the burner and turn the heat to high. Once you see it start to smoke, pour in about 1/3 to ½ cups of high-smoke-point cooking oil. I prefer avocado oil.
- Add the beef and immediately move it up the sides of the wok using a wok spatula or something similar to get a good sear on it. We will leave it like this for exactly 60 seconds. After that minute, stir fry the beef or simply fold it over using the spatula for 30 to 45 seconds to get it as browned as possible. Then, set it to the side.
- Turn the heat down to low-medium, add the ginger, garlic, green onion, and carrots, and stir-fry for 45 to 60 seconds. Add the beef back to the pan and fold everything together.
- Pour in the sauce. Fold the ingredients together, and it should thicken up almost immediately. Toss in the broccoli and gently fold everything to combine.
- Serve with or over rice.
Notes
Giving the beef a little TLC will go a long way in homemade beef and broccoli recipes. Stick with a lean and tender cut of steak, like flank steak or skirt steak, and follow the instructions carefully during the slicing, velveting, and tenderizing steps. Slicing the steak against the grain into thin, bite-sized pieces will shorten the muscle fibers and prevent them from becoming chewy. In addition, velveting the steak will keep the marinated pieces ultra-tender.
Always velvet the beef: If you're short on time, skip the baking soda cure at the start. Velveting the beef in the cornstarch, egg white, and baking soda marinade should be enough to keep the meat tender as long as the pieces are sliced thin.
Ground beef and broccoli recipe: You can swap the steak strips for ground beef, but you’ll end up with a saucier beef and broccoli bowl. Stick to a steak cut if you're going for that restaurant look and feel.
Add more vegetables: Most stir fry recipes include a medley of fresh or frozen vegetables. I like to focus on the broccoli in this version, but you’re more than welcome to add some variety with blanched snap peas, asparagus, green beans, bok choy, or stir-fried bell peppers and mushrooms.
Practice mise en place: This fast-paced recipe requires an organized cooking station and prepped and measured ingredients. Being unprepared could potentially result in overcooked vegetables, chewy steak, or burnt sauce.
Make-Ahead: You can marinate the sliced beef, blanch the broccoli, and make the sauce up to 1 day in advance. Store everything in separate airtight containers in the fridge. When it’s time to eat, all that’s left to do is stir fry everything in the wok.
How to Store: Pack the leftover, cooled beef and broccoli into an airtight container and refrigerate it for up to 4 days.
How to Reheat: To maintain the saucy texture, reheat the beef and broccoli in a skillet or wok over medium heat with a splash of water or broth. You can also microwave them in 30-second intervals, stirring in between, until they’re heated through.
Nutrition
Calories: 449kcalCarbohydrates: 55gProtein: 46gFat: 8gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 69mgSodium: 2194mgPotassium: 2458mgFiber: 17gSugar: 13gVitamin A: 5124IUVitamin C: 545mgCalcium: 333mgIron: 7mg