Beef Broccoli Stir fry

Beef broccoli is a total comfort food for me – my mom made a lot of stir fries when I was growing up, and this one was one of my favourites. I love the way the crunchy broccoli florets sop up the yummy savoury sauce.

Stir fries are a super quick, healthy, fresh and delicious weeknight option. And I love when you can stretch a couple of steaks into dinner for four by filling them out with lots of veggies.
Despite that, when racking my brain for dinner ideas, I seldom think them – I don’t know why! They’re such a staple to many of my friends.

The biggest thing to remember when stir-frying is to prep all of your ingredients before you start cooking – the 30 minute marinade here affords you the time to do all of your chopping and mixing at a leisurely pace, and maybe wash a few dishes while you’re at it.

Because you’re working over high heat, your ingredients are going to cook quickly. Restaurant stir-fried dishes always feature perfectly crisp-tender vegetables, vibrant in colour and still a bit crunchy – while their homemade counterparts too often fall victim to the unprepared cook and end up soggy and wilted. This particular dish is pretty easy, featuring just broccoli – so it’s not too fussy. But when stir-frying multiple veggies in other recipes, you want to make sure you’ve done your fancy mise-en-place before you ignite the burner.

Next, you want to take your time and cook things in batches – broccoli first, then beef.  If you over-crowd your pan or wok, the food will steam instead of frying.  When cooking the beef (or any other meat), be sure to get your oil nice and hot, and arrange the pieces in a single layer.  Don’t flip until they release willingly – you want to nice browning, as this contributes a lot to the flavour and appearance.

Are stir-fries on regular rotation in your house? What are your favourites?

Beef Broccoli Stir fry

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Servings 4
Dinner
Chinese

Ingredients
  

For marinade:

  • 1 tablespoon unseasoned rice vinegar
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
  • 1 lb steak thinly sliced against the grain

For stirfry:

  • ½ cup chicken stock
  • 3 tbsp oyster sauce
  • 3 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp cornstarch
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 tbsp vegetable or peanut oil
  • 2 cloves garlic thinly sliced
  • 1 fresno chile thinly sliced (optional)
  • 1 head broccoli chopped into medium florets, stems thinly sliced
  • 1 onion thinly sliced

Instructions
 

  • Combine rice vinegar, soy sauce and sugar in a medium bowl. Add steak and toss to coat. Marinate 30 minutes or up to 24 hours.
  • Meanwhile, whisk together chicken stock, oyster sauce, soy sauce, cornstarch and sugar. Set aside.
  • Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add garlic, chile, broccoli and onion and cook, stirring often, until broccoli turns bright green. Transfer to a large bowl and add remaining tablespoon oil to skillet. When shimmering hot, shake excess marinade off of beef and add it to pan in a single layer. Brown well on both sides. Return broccoli mixture to skillet, add sauce, and cook, tossing frequently, until sauce thickens and broccoli is crisp-tender, about 2 minutes.

Last Updated on March 4, 2015 by Jennifer Pallian BSc, RD

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