Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry
For this beef and broccoli stir fry, I'll show you how to keep your beef tender in this fast and easy recipe. Plus, it tastes better than take-out!
Equipment
Ingredients
For the marinade
- 3/4 pound beef (options include tri-tip, flank, or sirloin)
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine (aka Chinese cooking wine)
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil
For the stir-fry sauce
- 3/4 cup water
- 1 teaspoon beef buillion (or substitute chicken buillion)
- 1½ tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- ½ teaspoon white pepper (or substitute black pepper)
Additional ingredients
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 12 ounces broccoli florets (I use broccoli you can steam in a bag for convenience)
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons corn starch
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil
Instructions
Prepare the beef marinade
- Gather the ingredients.
- Slice the steak into 1/4 inch slices. Be sure to cut the steak across the grain. Place the sliced steak into a medium bowl for the marinade.
- To the beef, add the Shaoxing wine, oyster sauce, baking soda, corn starch, and cooking oil. Mix thoroughly with your hands. If you find the marinade difficult to mix into the beef, add a tablespoon of water to loosen it up. Set aside for about 15-30 minutes as you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
Cook the broccoli
- For convenience, I like to buy broccoli florets in a bag and steam it in the microwave. The directions typically tell you to steam for 3 minutes, but I will microwave it for about 1.5 minutes to keep the broccoli crisp. Alternatively, you can boil a medium pot of water and blanch broccoli florets for about 2 minutes. Remove the broccoli and set aside as you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
Prepare the stir-fry sauce
- In a bowl, combine the water, buillion, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, sesame oil, and pepper. Give it a good stir and set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine the water and corn starch (2 tablespoons each). Set this corn starch slurry aside.
Time to cook!
- Heat a wok or large pan over high heat. When hot, add 2 tablespoons of cooking oil. Add the sliced beef and stir.
- When the beef is cooked through (about 3-5 minutes), remove the steak from the wok and set aside.
- Lower the heat to medium. Add the minced garlic to the pan and cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute.
- Deglaze the pan with reserved sauce. Be sure to scrape the bottom of the pan to get all the delicious browned bits at the bottom of the pan.
- Next, add in the corn starch slurry. Let it come up to a boil (30 seconds to 1 minute).
- Add the beef and broccoli into the pan. Give it a good sauce to ensure everything is coated in the sauce. If the sauce gets too thick, just add a little water to loosen it up. Once everything is coated, turn off the heat and it's ready to serve. Enjoy!
Notes
- When cutting the steak, be sure to slice the steak against the grain. This will ensure the beef will stay tender.
- Prepare all the ingredients before you start to cook in the wok. Everything comes together really fast in the pan, and you don't want it to overcook.