Beef and Broccoli Stir-Fry

About This Recipe

Beef and Broccoli is one of the most popular Chinese-American dishes in the world — a staple of takeout menus from San Francisco to London — yet it is faster and better made at home. The restaurant version often features soft, slightly overcooked beef in a thick, overly sweet sauce; a homemade version uses properly velveted beef, crisp-tender broccoli and a balanced sauce that is savoury, slightly sweet and complex with oyster sauce, ginger and sesame. The technique that makes restaurant-quality beef and broccoli possible at home is velveting — coating the beef slices in a mixture of bicarbonate of soda and cornstarch and letting it sit for 20–30 minutes before cooking. This alkaline marinade denatures the surface proteins and breaks down the muscle fibers, producing impossibly tender beef that would otherwise be tough when sliced thin and stir-fried at high heat. It is the single most transformative technique in Chinese restaurant cooking. Stir-frying at maximum heat — a technique called wok hei in Cantonese — creates the smoky, slightly caramelised flavour that defines great stir-fries. A domestic gas hob can achieve adequate heat with a good carbon steel wok; the key is cooking in very small batches and never crowding the pan, which drops the temperature and causes steaming rather than searing.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 500 gflank steak or sirloin(sliced thinly against the grain)
• 1 tspbicarbonate of soda(for velveting)
• 1 tbspcornstarch(for velveting)
• 1 tbspsoy sauce(for velveting)
• 1 tbspneutral oil(for velveting)
• 350 gbroccoli(cut into small florets)
• 3 clovesgarlic(minced)
• 1 inchfresh ginger(grated)
• 3 tbspoyster sauce
• 2 tbspsoy sauce
• 1 tbspdark soy sauce(for colour)
• 1 tbspShaoxing rice wine(or dry sherry)
• 1 tspsesame oil
• 1 tspbrown sugar
• ½ cupbeef stock or water
• 1 tspcornstarch(mixed with 2 tbsp water (for the sauce))
• 2 tbspneutral oil(for cooking)

Instructions

1. 1

   Velvet the beef

   Toss beef slices with bicarbonate of soda, cornstarch, 1 tablespoon soy sauce and oil. Mix well and let sit for 20–30 minutes.

   Velveting with bicarbonate of soda is the Chinese restaurant secret for tender beef. Do not skip this step and do not exceed 30 minutes or the beef develops a slightly off flavour.

2. 2

   Blanch the broccoli

   Blanch broccoli florets in boiling salted water for 90 seconds. Drain and rinse with cold water to stop cooking and set the vibrant green colour. Alternatively, add 2 tablespoons of water to the wok and steam the broccoli for 2 minutes covered.

3. 3

   Mix the sauce

   Whisk together oyster sauce, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, sesame oil, sugar, stock and the cornstarch slurry. Set aside.

4. 4

   Sear the beef

   Heat a wok or large pan over maximum heat until smoking. Add 1 tablespoon oil. Add beef in a single layer — do not stir for 1 minute. Toss briefly and cook 1 minute more until browned. Remove to a plate.

   Beef should be slightly under-cooked at this stage — it will finish cooking in the sauce.

5. 5

   Aromatics and sauce

   Add remaining oil to the hot wok. Add garlic and ginger and stir-fry for 30 seconds until fragrant. Add the sauce mixture and bring to a boil — it will thicken quickly from the cornstarch.

6. 6

   Combine and serve

   Add broccoli and beef to the sauce. Toss everything together for 1 minute until coated in the glossy sauce and heated through. Serve immediately over steamed jasmine rice.

Variations

• •

  Chicken and broccoli: substitute beef with 500g chicken breast, sliced thin. Velvet the same way.

• •

  Tofu and broccoli: use extra-firm tofu, pressed and cubed, for a vegetarian version. Use vegetarian oyster sauce (mushroom sauce).

• •

  Add cashews: toss in 50g dry-roasted cashews at the end for crunch.

Storage

Refrigerate for up to 3 days. The broccoli softens on storage. Reheat in a hot wok or pan for 2 minutes, adding a splash of water to loosen the sauce.

Frequently Asked Questions