Beef & Broccoli Stir Fry

As far as Chinese take-out food goes, Beef and Broccoli is right up there with Sweet & Sour Chicken and eggrolls as far as popularity.   In actuality stir fry in general is really a simple dish to make and can be re-created at home for a fraction of the cost using whatever veggies and meat you have on hand.  This is the recipe I use at home,  and please…don’t ruin it by having it with “instant” rice!  

Again…some of my cooking is a “shake of this, dash of that” so my measurements may be a little off, just adjust according to your personal taste.  Oh, and the key to this dish is the marinating time, don’t skip it!

Beef & Broccoli recipe-feeds 4 (or 3 really hungry people!):

• 3/4 pound of thinly sliced beef-cheaper cuts (like flank steaks) are fine, as the marinating will soften it up
• 1 1/2 TBLS of good soy sauce (“soy bean sauce” should be the main ingredient, with salt being one of the last!)
• 1 1/2 TBLS of brown sugar
• 1/2 – 3/4 tsp of ground black pepper
• 1 TBLS cornstarch

• broccoli florets from 2 crowns-cut into large bite-size pieces (I actually use a lot more, we LOVE broccoli!)
• 3 cloves of garlic-thinly sliced
• 1 TBLS of cooking oil
• 3-4 TBLS of oyster sauce (depending on how “saucy” you like it)

Directions:

• Combine the first 5 ingredients in a bowl, making sure to massage all the spices into the meat really well.  You don’t want to see any of the cornstarch left and the sugar should be dissolved.  Cover and refrigerate for an hour, don’t skip this step!
• Place a wok over medium heat with the cooking oil in it.  Once the oil is hot, add in the sliced garlic and stir it around for 20-30 seconds, don’t let it burn.  Add in the broccoli, give it a good stir, then turn down the heat a little and cover it.  Check on the broccoli every couple of minutes, stirring it around each time to make sure all of the broccoli gets evenly cooked.  Once it is tender-crisp, place the broccoli in a large bowl and set it aside.
• Turn the heat up to med-high and put the beef into the wok.  add a little oil if necessary.  Stir it around continuously until it is cooked to just barely pink.  Add the broccoli back in along with the oyster sauce.  Stir everything around and allow it to cook for another minute or so.  Taste a broccoli floret to see if you need any more soy sauce, sugar, or oyster sauce.  Once it is done take it off the heat so it doesn’t get soggy, seve over hot rice.