Beef and Broccoli Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is beef and broccoli sauce made of? ›

Each restaurant has its secrets but I make a fair amount of Chinese food and recipes for broccoli beef sauce are basically oyster sauce, soy sauce, sugar and perhaps a splash of rice wine. Since this is a deep flavored savory dish I think perhaps a bit of mushroom soy sauce is used.

Beef flank steak is the best cut for quick stir fry dishes like beef and broccoli. It's cheap but still flavorful, and you can easily tenderize it with a little bit of baking soda. You could use eye rounds, chuck roasts, and skirt steak as well, but of the cheaper cuts, flank steak is our favorite choice.

Flank steaks are the most popular choice for making a stir-fry. However, you can also use sirloin steak, skirt steak, Denver steak, or even beef chuck. Beef chuck steak is the most economical choice, but it does require some extra trimming. You'll want to remove the tough tissue from the steaks before frying.

To thicken beef and broccoli, you can mix 1-2 tablespoons of cornstarch with a small amount of water to create a slurry. Add the slurry to the simmering sauce and stir until it thickens.

There are many Chinese sauces that are brown just a few most common, soy sause, oyster sauce, sweet bean, Hoisin…

Broth: Many versions of this dish use beef broth, but you can also find it made with chicken or vegetable broth. Soy Sauce: Soy sauce is one of the main ingredients that you'll find in nearly every version of Chinese brown sauce.

Packages of pre-cut beef strips, beef for stir-fry, are often available in the meat case. Most tender beef cuts, such as sirloin, tri-tip, ribeye, top loin (strip), tenderloin, shoulder center (Ranch Steak), shoulder top blade (Flat Iron) and shoulder petite tender, can be cut into strips for use in stir-fry recipes.

The first is to cook your protein and your vegetable separately, and combine them only after both are fully cooked. A second rule of thumb for stir-frying: Choose one vegetable per stir-fry. Finally, always remember to add liquid only after everything is more or less finished cooking.

What is the secret ingredient in stir-fry? ›

According to Food & Wine, ketchup is the ultimate way to take the flavor of homemade stir fry up a level, thanks to its sweet and sour flavor profile. It just might be the easiest cooking hack to elevate your home cooking to that of your favorite take-out.

Depending on what you are using the beef broth for you can substitute a well made vegetable broth or chicken broth. Of course, it will change the flavor profile a bit but it is a much better solution to using cubes or powders which are sodium bombs.

All-Purpose Flour

Although it won't produce the same glossy shine as cornstarch, it'll get the job done in a pinch. All-purpose flour contains about half the thickening power of cornstarch, so for every tablespoon of cornstarch required, you'll need to substitute two tablespoons of all-purpose flour.

The corn starch helps keep the beef moist and tender while cooking. It's very noticeable when cooking meat tossed with vs. without corn starch — the meat without corn starch will exude liquid as it cooks, whereas meat coated with corn starch will retain its liquid content, making it more tender.

What's In the Sauce for Chicken and Broccoli? Basic stir-fry sauce is made up of aromatics like ginger and garlic, dark and regular soy sauces, sesame oil, oyster sauce, sugar, Chinese rice wine (Shaoxing wine) and white pepper. Cornstarch is used to thicken the sauce enough to coat the chicken and vegetables.

The Ingredients

Meat – This sauce uses a mixture of ground beef, ground pork, and ground veal; the combination is sometimes labeled “meatloaf mix”. I have also often done half ground beef and half ground Italian sausage, which is delicious. Onions and Garlic – Classic building blocks for a fantastic sauce!

Espagnole (pronounced like the word for Spanish: español) is a basic brown sauce that is one of the five mother sauces of classical cuisine. It's also the starting point for a rich and deeply flavorful sauce called demi-glace, which is traditionally served with red meats.