Chinese Beef and Broccoli

Chinese beef and broccoli is one of those foods that you suddenly crave out of nowhere. You can taste the slightly spicy and velvety finely-sliced beef and crisp, crunchy broccoli with a hint of ginger, all lightly covered in a sweet and salty sauce.

Jump to:

• 🧾 Ingredients
• 🥩 The meat
• 🥦 The broccoli
• 🥣 The sauce
• 🍚 The rice 
• 🥘 The cooking
• 📝 Recipe

And now you want some! But here’s the problem: the closest Chinese restaurant that delivers to where we live is 30 minutes away. That means from order to delivery, it’s an agonizing 45 to 60 minutes. No way. Way too long. Cravings have to be satisfied quickly. That’s why they’re called cravings.

Luckily, you’re only 30 minutes away from satisfying your craving! Your nose will be rewarded in only 10 minutes when the meat meets the oil. If you don’t have the listed ingredients already in your pantry, it’s worth getting them, even if you think you’ll hardly use them. These condiments last for a long time once opened and stored in the fridge.

🧾 Ingredients

• Hanger steak
• Rice wine vinegar
• Cornstarch 
• Peanut oil (or any neutral oil with a high smoking point)
• Broccoli
• Soy sauce
• Hoisin sauce
• Sambal oelek (or your favorite chili sauce)
• Butter
• Fresh ginger (optional)
• Rice

See the recipe card below for full list of ingredients and their measurements.

⭐ Tip: Buy a ginger root and put it in the freezer. Whenever a recipe asks for fresh ginger, grab your frozen ginger and a cheese grater. You don’t even have to peel it. 

🥩 The meat

I chose one of my favorite cuts of beef for stir-frying, grilling chimichurri steak, or other quick, high-heat cooking: Hanger steak. Incredibly flavorful and incredibly nicely priced. It’s an underrated steak that restaurants don’t always serve. 

Ask a butcher what cut they’re taking home at the end of the day, and the chances are they’ll say: Hanger steak. It’s not a coincidence that hanger steak is also called butcher’s steak. Butchers often keep it for themselves rather than offering it for sale. A hanger steak is a cut from the diaphragm in the lower belly. It typically weighs from 1 to 1-½ pounds. If you can’t find it in your store, a flank or skirt steak will be a good substitute.

⭐ Tip: It’s crucial to slice the beef against the grain. Otherwise, it’ll be chewy. Also, adding a little cornstarch to the marinade will give it that nice “shiny” appearance when cooked.

🥦 The broccoli

When buying fresh broccoli, look for color and firmness. It’s happened to all of us. We picked a head of broccoli that’s on sale, put it in the crisper in the fridge, and two days later, we found a yellowish, limp vegetable. 

Even if your broccoli is nice and crisp, put it in a pot of boiling water for about 2 minutes. It’s incredible how the colors will intensify. We’re also “eating” with our eyes. This step is definitely worth the extra effort.

🥣 The sauce

The sauce makes this dish “Chinese.” We’re not using salt and pepper in this recipe, so we have to create a lot of flavor by using other ingredients. One of my favorite sauces for these kinds of dishes is hoisin sauce. 

Hoisin sauce is very commonly used in Cantonese cooking. This condiment has many variations, but it can be described as “sweet and salty.” An excellent substitute for hoisin sauce is oyster sauce. 

Another of my favorite sauces is sambal oelek, an Indonesian chili paste with garlic that goes with everything that needs a little “lift.” 

You could also use your favorite hot sauce. If you do, I would recommend adding a teaspoon of freshly minced garlic. 

🍚 The rice 

You can use any rice you like, from classic long-grain rice to a slightly fragrant Jasmine rice. Either way, start with the rice. When the rice is done (in about 20 to 25 minutes), the meat/vegetable part will be ready at the same time.

🥘 The cooking

If you make a big batch, it’s easier to use a wok. A smaller frying pan will work too, but you might have to fry the meat in two batches, so the pan isn’t overcrowded. 

Start cooking rice according to package instructions.

Thinly slice beef against the grain and mix in a bowl with rice wine vinegar, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, and 1 tablespoon cornstarch. 

Mix the remaining soy sauce with the hoisin sauce, sambal oelek, and ginger, and set aside.

Bring a pot of water to a boil and blanch broccoli for 2 minutes. 

Bring peanut oil to a simmer over high heat and add the beef. Stir fry until browned, about 2 minutes. If using a smaller pan, stir fry the beef in two batches, using half the oil each time.

Set the beef aside and clean out your pan with some paper towels.

Bring 1 tablespoon of oil to nearly smoking (high heat, but no smoke) and stir fry your vegetables for 2 minutes.

Return the beef to the pan and add the sauce. Stir everything together until nice and smooth, for less than a minute. Add the butter, and within less then another minute, you’re done!

As always, use this recipe as a guideline and inspiration. Then adjust the flavors to your preference. Make it your own. You can do it!

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Did you make this Beef and Broccoli recipe? Let us know in the comments below!

📝 Recipe

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