Chinese Broccoli Beef

Posted on 29. Dec, 2010 by admin in Chinese, East Asian, Fast Asian Recipe, Meat

The secret ingredient to the absolute best Broccoli Beef is Chinese black vinegar, which adds a mellow sweet tang. If you don’t have Chinese black vinegar, substitute it with a good, dark balsamic vinegar. Speaking of sauce, there’s nothing I detest more than goopy brown sauce that normally drags this dish down at most Chinese restaurants.I want my broccoli to be tender-crisp and taste like broccoli, not like cornstarchy brown goop. The secret is to cook the broccoli separate and to use minimal amount of cornstarch – but only in the steak marinade. We’ll simmer the sauce to let it thicken naturally.

Chinese Broccoli Beef Recipe

1 lb (460 g) top sirloin or flank steak, sliced into 1/8-in (3-mm)-thin strips

For the marinade
1½ teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon cornstarch
½ teaspoon cooking oil

For the Stir-fry Sauce
3 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 teaspoons Chinese rice wine (or dry sherry)
2 teaspoons black vinegar

For the Broccoli
1½ lb (700 g) broccoli, cut into bite-sized florets
½ teaspoon kosher or sea salt
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic

Marinate the beef in soy sauce, cornstarch and the ½ teaspoon of oil for 10 minutes at room temperature.

In a small bowl, mix together the stir-fry sauce ingredients.

In a wok or large frying pan, add 1 inch (2.5 cm) of water and salt and bring to a boil. Add the broccoli and cover to steam for 3 minutes. Broccoli should be bright green, crisp tender and you should be able to pierce the stem with a fork. Drain.

Discard the water in the pan and dry the pan well. Heat the pan over high heat and when hot, add the 1 tablespoon of cooking oil and swirl to coat. Add the garlic and fry for 15 to 30 seconds, until fragrant. Add the steak strips, keeping them in one layer and fry 30 seconds. Flip the strips and fry the other side.

Pour in the stir-fry sauce and stir to combine. Simmer until the sauce is thick enough to coat a back of a spoon, about 30 seconds. Add the cooked broccoli back into the pan and toss to coat well.

***
More Options
- To keep this dish vegetarian, replace the beef with fresh, thick, meaty shitake mushrooms (cut in half) or even Portobello (cut in ½ in/13 mm slices).

Tags: Jaden Hair, Steamy Kitchen

| Share

22 Responses to “Chinese Broccoli Beef”

Christine 6 October 2010 at 9:49 am #

My family is going to be thrilled if when i make this I do it right! One of their favorite dishes…. I’ll let you know how it goes.

grace Reply:
October 6th, 2010 at 5:46 pm
please do!
Jeanette 7 October 2010 at 7:39 am #

So happy to find this website…love the idea of an Asian Cuisine collection of recipes. I’ve never tried the black vinegar in this dish…will give it a whirl!
Gemma 11 October 2010 at 7:28 pm #

Looks absolutely delicious, i’ll be trying it tonight (with balsamic, as I do not own black vinegar!) Thanks for the recipe!
Julie 1 November 2010 at 5:21 pm #

I used to love broccoli, but had an unfortunate got-sick-right-after-eating-some incident and was dreading having to prepare the broccoli that I got from my CSA. This recipe seemed like it might make the stuff palatable. I substituted chicken for the beef but otherwise, prepared it exactly as directed. It was soo delicious and it gave me back my taste for broccoli. Thank you!
MG 11 November 2010 at 3:49 pm #

I’m allergic to oyster sauce; is there something I can use as an alternative or can I simply omit from the recipe? (which will not impact the taste)

grace Reply:
November 15th, 2010 at 5:47 pm
You can use soy sauce as an oyster sauce substitute and you can add half a teaspoon of sugar to the soy sauce. You could also use fish sauce as a replacement. Hope this helps!
Micah 14 November 2010 at 2:09 pm #

Made this today with my roommate, aside from me misreading the directions, it turned out just great. We used chopped broccoli and next time we will use larger florets.
Jane ridolfi 29 December 2010 at 9:18 am #

Jaden. This look great! What brand of chinese vinegar fo you use? Photo? Hope all is well. Best, Jane
Jaden 29 December 2010 at 12:41 pm #

Hi Jane! I have Koon Chun black vinegar, it’s what my local Asian market carries!
jennifer 30 December 2010 at 3:49 am #

how many servings is this for?
dilru 9 January 2011 at 4:43 pm #

Is Chinkiang Vinegar is same as black vinegar?
Magda 24 January 2011 at 1:14 pm #

Delicious recipe. prepared for a family dinner and got lots of success. found all the ingredients. thank you
Tu Ly 22 February 2011 at 6:42 pm #

hi Jane!! you are truly an inspiration. thank you SO much for posting all of these amazing recipes! so far, I’ve tried 4 of your recipes and I have LOVED them all. (my bf does too, btw)…he’s the lucky benefactor of my new love of Asian dishes.
Elizabeth A. Fuentes 2 March 2011 at 4:51 pm #

I loved this dish!!!! So did my family. I was wondering if it freezes well? I was hoping to freeze single servings so that whenever we’re in the mood I could just whip it up quickly :D
Claire 31 August 2011 at 2:17 pm #

This is a great recipe – loads better than take out beef and broccoli! I upped the sauce amount and added a little extra soy sauce at the end. Check out my version on my blog here: http://seletsucre.wordpress.com/2011/08/31/chinese-beef-and-broccoli/
Janice 29 September 2011 at 2:11 am #

Thank you for this wonderful dish. My family loves it! My youngest son asks for it at least once a week.
Alyssa 28 February 2012 at 9:10 pm #

Excellent beef and broccoli! I’d make this over take-out any day.