Well, I guess it is safe to say I am in full Asian-flavor mode. A good sale at the market on sirloin and broccoli priced at $.89/lb meant only one thing…Broccoli beef.I didn’t go completely traditional with this. I added onions, mushrooms, water chestnuts, and carrots. Those ingredients were on-hand and I have had broccoli beef with other veggies in it at various Chinese restaurants over the years. If they can do it, so can I, right?

Before you scroll down and look at the ingredient list or the cooking directions, it looks and sounds way more complicated than it really is. The tasks are broken up in different sections to make it a bit easier to follow. The work is in the prep, but there’s not as much of it as it looks, particularly if you ask the butcher to slice the meat for you. This is fast cooking, I promise, it is worth you giving it a try.

About the pan. I have not had a wok for several years now. The last one I had was ruined in college. During my marriage I could have easily purchased one at any time, but I always made-do. After the separation and subsequent divorce, money was tight, so naturally, I often wanted to buy one but couldn’t. Funny how those things work. It’s like shopping for clothes when you have extra money but finding absolutely nothing and then finding everything perfect on you when you’re flat broke. Well, the wok is now on the short list of items to purchase, but again, I made-do with what I had.

But of course that meant changing pans twice because I underestimated the pan capacity for the amount of food. So when you see different pans in the pictures below, you know why. Just keep your fingers crossed that I pick up a wok soon. I think I have gone on a tangent from the point I wanted to make. Use a big pan if you don’t have a wok. At least a 12″ skillet.

For the oil, I used sesame oil, but any vegetable oil that does well under high heat is fine. I do not recommend olive oil. I also only started with a 3 tbsp of oil to cook the beef in and added a bit more as I needed it. My goal was to use as little as possible to get the flavor right but keep the calories and fat as low as I could. Add the amount of oil you are most comfortable with, I gave a pretty broad quantity of oil to use. Use your cooking judgment and your own tastes as your guide. Soy sauce is not gluten free but tamari is, so substitute that in and you’ve got yourself a GF dish.

Broccoli Beef

Author: Michelle

Ingredients

11/4-11/2 sirloin steak; sliced thinly in strips
5 tbsp -1/2 cup oil

Marinade:

21/2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 tsp sugar
2 1/2 tsp soy sauce
21/2 tbsp water
21/2 cornstarch

Veggies:

1 onion; sliced thinly
1 carrot; matchstick cut
6 oz mushrooms; sliced
4 oz water chestnuts; sliced/diced

Sauce:

1/3 cup oyster sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
21/2 tbsp water
1/8 tsp black pepper +/-
3 cloves garlic; minced/grated

Broccoli:

1 lb broccoli florets
1 cup warm water
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt

Instructions

Slice the beef into thin slices (or ask the butcher to do it) and place the beef into a zip storage bag.
In a small bowl, add all the marinade ingredients but the cornstarch. Mix well.
Slowly whisk in the cornstarch.
Pour the sauce over the beef in the bag.
Seal and shake well, making sure all the pieces of meat are covered in sauce.
Allow to sit and marinate for 30-60 minutes.
While the beef is marinating, prepare the vegetables.
Grab a large bowl. Slice the onion into thin strips and add to the bowl. Cut the carrot into matchstick size pieces, add them to the bowl. Set aside.
Open and drain the water chestnuts. Cut them into bite size pieces if they are in larger chunks, add them to a smaller bowl. Add the sliced mushrooms to the same bowl with the chestnuts. Set aside.
Rinse out the bowl that the marinade was mixed in and mix up the sauce. Add all the ingredients and stir well. Set aside.
Chop the broccoli into florets, wash and drain. Set aside. In a small bowl, add the warm water, sugar, and salt. Dissolve the sugar and salt in the water, set aside.
Heat the wok or skillet and add 3 tbsp oil. When the oil is hot, add the beef. Cook the beef, let it be for 30 - 40 seconds, then begin stir frying. When the beef is nearly cooked after 1- 2 minutes, remove it from the pan and set aside.
Wipe out the wok/pan with paper towels.
Add 2 tablespoons oil to the wok. When the oil is hot, add the onions and carrots. Cook for about 1 minute. Then add the mushrooms and water chestnuts. Continue to cook for another minute.
Add the broccoli to the hot pan, stir fry for no more than one minute then pour the warm sugar/salt water over the broccoli.
Cook the broccoli and veggies for 4 - 5 minutes or until the broccoli turns a bright green and is tender but still crisp.
The water should be nearly evaporated. If not, quickly drain off the remaining water.
Add the beef to the broccoli and the veggies.
Add the sauce to the wok and mix everything together well.
Cook for 1-2 minutes over high heat, the sauce will thicken and reduce. Serve over steaming hot rice.

Ingredients

Stir-Frying Beef

The Veggies

Combining the beef to the veg

Broccoli Beef

18 Comments

Leia

July 11, 2014 at 8:47 pm

Mmm, this sounds so good. Love those big strips of beef, too! 🙂

Michelle
July 12, 2014 at 1:32 am
Thank you Leia, it was really tasty.

Ellen@From Scratch

July 11, 2014 at 8:56 pm

Love beef and broccoli, and so does my entire family! (Which, with 5 of us, is hard to find!) Can’t wait to give this one a go. Thanks! 🙂

Michelle
July 12, 2014 at 1:33 am
Ellen, thanks for stopping by. Hope your family loves it. I know how hard it is to please a crowd with all different palates! 🙂