Beef and Broccoli
By Michael · from our van kitchen
We’ve made beef and broccoli in the van several times, but for a long time I never actually shared the recipe we use. This is it. The version below is the one I made in Fargo, North Dakota, parked on a street of apartment buildings for the night. You can watch me make it; the cooking starts around 21:20.
Why I make it myself
Rina misses beef and broccoli when we’re on the road. One night in Cedar City, Utah, we got takeout from the Chinese restaurant across the street from where we were parked. The sauce was sweet, and it’s supposed to be savoury. Fake Chinese food. So I cook it in the van instead.
The beef
For this one I used a tri-tip steak, because the marbling looked pretty good. About a pound, if I had to guess. Another time I used chuck short ribs, which I really like for beef and broccoli because of all the marbling. Whatever you use, cut it across the grain so it’s tender.
The baking soda is what tenderizes it. It’s hard to gauge, so don’t put too much in: too much baking soda makes the flavour really weird. When I made it with the short ribs I only used about a fifth of a teaspoon. The other trick is the water. Keep adding a little and let the meat absorb it before you add the oil. You can actually watch the water disappear into the beef.
I eyeball everything. I don’t use measuring cups for this because I don’t like washing a lot of things.
The sauce
Make sure you mix the sauce right before you pour it in, cornstarch included, because you don’t want it to clump up. Then keep stirring until it thickens. In Fargo I made one batch, started cooking the beef, and was pretty sure it wasn’t going to be enough, so I made another batch. For a pound of beef, just make it double from the start.
I didn’t have dark soy sauce, so I used Maggi seasoning. It’s really just for the colour. I also didn’t have cooking wine, so I left it out of both the marinade and the sauce.
How it turned out
Rina tried it first. The meat was pretty tender and the flavour was good. To me it came out pretty good too. The sesame seeds on top add to that Chinese restaurant feel. Beef and broccoli goes really well with rice, but we didn’t cook any that night.
It’s not always perfect. Another time I made a different sauce with a quarter cup of oyster sauce and two tablespoons of soy sauce, and it was a little too salty. It was fine with rice, but we had no rice.
Ingredients
Beef and marinade
- About 1 lb tri-tip steak, sliced as thin as possible against the grain
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon baking soda (not too much)
- 2 tablespoons water, plus a little more
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
- 1 teaspoon white sugar
- 1 tablespoon cooking wine (the recipe calls for it; I didn't have any)
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil
Sauce (one batch; I made it twice for a pound of beef)
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce (I used Maggi seasoning instead)
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 tablespoon cooking wine (I left it out)
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
- Broccoli
- Cooking oil, for the pan
- Sesame seeds, to finish
Steps
- Slice the beef as thin as you can, against the grain.
- Marinate it: mix in the oyster sauce, light soy sauce, baking soda, water, white pepper and sugar (and the cooking wine if you have it). Mix, mix, mix.
- Add a little more water and let the meat absorb it. Keep going until the water is gone into the beef; that makes it even juicier.
- Add 1 tablespoon of cooking oil to lock in the flavour, mix again, and let it sit for about half an hour while you prepare everything else.
- Bring a pot of water to a boil, throw in the broccoli and cook it for a few minutes, then drain it and set it aside. Don't overcook it or it will be soggy by the time you stir fry it.
- Mix the sauce ingredients in a bowl. For about a pound of beef, make double.
- Heat the pan on medium with a little cooking oil and toss the beef in.
- When the beef is about 75% cooked, add the broccoli.
- Mix the sauce again right before it goes in so the cornstarch doesn't clump, then pour it in. Keep stirring until the sauce thickens.
- Plate it and sprinkle a little sesame seed on top.
Amounts are what I said in the video. Where I didn't measure, it says "to taste". Cook it your way.
