Name: Beef and Broccoli {Easy Tasty Healthy Way}
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 1 lb. steak, top round, sirloin, or flank; 1/4 tsp baking soda; 1/2 tbsp. Shaoxing Wine; 1 tbsp. naturally aged soy sauce, or dark soy sauce; 1 tsp Zhenjiang vinegar; 1 tsp cane sugar, organic unrefined preferred; 1/4 tsp salt, Himalayan pink salt, or sea salt; 1 tbsp. arrowroot flour; 2 tbsp. cooking oil, such as canola oil; A small piece of ginger, about 10 g, thin julienne cut slices; 1 stalk green onion, chopped; 2 tbsp. naturally aged soy sauce, or dark soy sauce; 2 tbsp. light soy sauce; 1/2 tbsp arrowroot flour; 1 tbsp. minced garlic; 1/2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground; 1 tbsp. turbinado sugar, also known as "sugar in the raw", or organic light brown sugar; 3 tbsp. water; 2 tsp canola oil; 1/4 tsp salt, Himalayan pink salt, or sea salt; 1 head of broccoli; half red onion

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Beef and Broccoli perhaps is the most popular Chinese restaurant item in the west. Homemade Better than Take Out Beef and Broccoli features juicy and savory beef slices stir fried with tender, flavorful broccoli. With this unique beef tenderizing marinating method, any type of beef steak will work out great for this Recipe. Red onions slices are a pleasant touch to elevate the taste and contrast the color. Perfect to pair with rice for a delicious and healthy rice bowl.

Beef and Broccoli {Easy Tasty Healthy Way}

Beef and Broccoli Ingredients Required:

Beef and Broccoli {Easy Tasty Healthy Way} Recipe Ingredients

Steak: Top round, top sirloin or flank steak shall all work out well.

For Marinating the Beef: Baking Soda, Shaoxing Wine, Zhenjiang Vinegar, Naturally Aged Soy Sauce, also known as Jiang You {酱油} in Chinese, Himalayan Pink Salt, Cane Sugar, Arrowroot Flour and Canola Oil.

Baking soda is a secret ingredient that helps tenderize the beef effectively. So what is the science behind this? It alkalizes the beef’s surface, therefore making it more difficult for the proteins to bond. As a result, beef stays tenderer when cooked.
By the way, Baking Soda is truly a wonderful all-natural multiple-purpose product. Not only I use it in baking such as these amazingly soft and delicious Chocolate Chip Cookies, I also use it as the primary ingredient for my homemade toothpaste or homemade exfoliating scrub for face and body.

Marinating Beef for Juicy Beef and Broccoli

Use oil during the marinating process also helps keep the beef tender.
Arrowroot flour became my go-to gluten-free healthier version of starch since I jump-started a healthier living and cooking journey.
When I say Regular Soy Sauce, I mean naturally brewed and aged soy sauce, or Jiang You {酱油} in Chinese. This is the traditional soy sauce Chinese people have been using since ancient time. Dark vs. Light Soy Sauce is modern time Cantonese invention. You can typically substitute Regular Soy Sauce with Dark Soy Sauce.

For the Stir Fry Sauce: Regular Soy Sauce, Light Soy Sauce, Minced Garlic, Freshly Ground Black Pepper, Arrowroot Flour and Sugar.

For Sugar, I typically use turbinado sugar, also known as “sugar in the raw“. They are minimally processed sugar that contains natural molasses which makes the meat taste and look wonderful. You can also use brown rock sugar or light brown sugar.
A compact food processor is a very handy kitchen tool that can help mince garlic and other herbs.

Minced Garlic Using a Compact Food Processor

Useful Kitchen Utensils and Tools:

A quality non-stick fry pan is so essential when a no-stick function is a must-have. For instance, when you make pancakes, hash browns, crepes, or pan-fried bass or shrimp, etc.

I have tried and used so many non-stick fry pans, and am genuinely impressed by this hard-anodized fry pan. They endure high temperatures and easy to care. I need to look no further for a quality non-stick fry pan.

Sear Marinated Beef in Hard Anodized Fry Pan

A slotted turner – a firm while flexible slotted turner is essential for stir-fry as we constantly fold and turn the food in the pan.

A mixing bowl – Use a mixing bowl to marinate the beef, which is the key to tender and flavorful beef.

How to make Juicy and Delicious Beef and Broccoli?

See the Recipe for the detailed step-by-step guided tutorial. Here are the key takeaways:

Tip No.1 is to marinate the beef slices well in advance

Properly preparing and marinating the beef before cooking is the ultimate key to tender and delicious beef for stir-fry. If you can plan the cooking ahead of time, I highly recommend you marinate the beef at least 4 hours before the cooking.

The first is to cut the beef into thin slices across the grain. Then soak the beef slices in cold water and rinse a few times. Then add a pinch of baking soda, mix well, either using hands or a pair of wooden spatulas.

Prepare and tenderize beef - Marinating Beef — Prepare and tenderize beef – Marinating Beef

Following that, add Shaoxing wine, Zhenjiang vinegar, regular soy sauce, arrowroot flour, a pinch of salt and sugar, and mix well with beef. Preferably, add one condiment at a time, mix well before adding another one.

Last but not least, add 4 tablespoonfuls (1/4 cup) of avocado oil or canola oil into the marinated beef and mix well.

Tip No. 2 is to sear the marinated beef in a small-batch

This is the key to sear the beef properly and maintain the tenderness of the beef. We split the 1 lb beef into 2 batches for home cooking in a 12-inch fry-pan.

Tip No.2 is to blanch broccoli before stir-fry

Blanched broccoli is tender and tastier. I usually keep the stems as much as possible. They taste great.

Last but not least is to make the Best Stir Fry Sauce for Beef and Broccoli

Add below ingredients into a small bowl and mix well.

3 tablespoons of water
2 tablespoons of Regular Soy Sauce, or Dark Soy Sauce
2 tablespoons of Light Soy Sauce
1 tablespoon of minced garlic. Use a Compact Food Processor to help with the process.
1/2 teaspoon of Black Pepper, freshly ground
2 tablespoons of turbinado sugar, or brown rock sugar or brown sugar.
1/2 tablespoon of Arrowroot Flour.

Arrowroot flour is my go-to superfood, gluten-free starch. Starch settles to the bottom of the bowl after a while. Make sure you mix and blend quickly again right before you are ready to pour the sauce into the pan. Pour the sauce around the edge of the pan in a circular motion.

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Beef and Broccoli {Easy Tasty Healthy Way}

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Additional Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Better than take out Beef and Broccoli made easy, tasty, and healthy at home. It features juicy and savory beef, stir fried with tender flavorful broccoli. Red onions slices are a pleasant touch to elevate the taste and contrast the color. Perfect to pair with rice for a delicious and healthy rice bowl.

Ingredients

For Marinating the Beef:

1 lb. steak, top round, sirloin, or flank
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tbsp. Shaoxing Wine
1 tbsp. naturally aged soy sauce, or dark soy sauce
1 tsp Zhenjiang vinegar
1 tsp cane sugar, organic unrefined preferred
1/4 tsp salt, Himalayan pink salt, or sea salt
1 tbsp. arrowroot flour
2 tbsp. cooking oil, such as canola oil

For Browning the Beef:

A small piece of ginger, about 10 g, thin julienne cut slices
1 stalk green onion, chopped

For Stir Fry Sauce:

2 tbsp. naturally aged soy sauce, or dark soy sauce
2 tbsp. light soy sauce
1/2 tbsp arrowroot flour
1 tbsp. minced garlic
1/2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
1 tbsp. turbinado sugar, also known as "sugar in the raw", or organic light brown sugar
3 tbsp. water

For Stir-Fry:

2 tsp canola oil
1/4 tsp salt, Himalayan pink salt, or sea salt
1 head of broccoli
half red onion

Instructions

Marinating the Beef:

Cut the steak into thin slices across the grain in bite-size. See notes.
Soak the beef slices in the cold water for about 10 minutes, and then rinse for a couple times.
Gently squeeze the beef to get rid of extra water and place them into a mixing bowl.
Add baking soda into the mixing bowl, toss using a pair of wooden spatulas and mix well.
Add Shaoxing Wine, soy sauce, Zhenjiang vinegar, and Himalayan pink salt into the mixing bowl, toss and mix well. Add arrowroot flour into the mixing bowl, mix well.
Lastly, add canola oil, toss & mix well.
Cover the mixing bowl with a food film and let it rest in the refrigerator for a few hours if you can.

Prep Red Onion and Broccoli:

Fill a 4 Qt. stockpot with 75% water and bring it to a boil.
While waiting, prepare red onion and broccoli. Peel the outer layer of red onion, trim off ends and cut vertically across into thin slices. Wash and rinse broccoli well, trim off the end, but keep as much stem as possible. Cut vertically into bite sizes.
Add broccoli into the boiling water, cover with a lid, and blanch for 1 min or until water resumes boiling.
Remove the broccoli from the pot using a spider skimmer onto a plate. Set aside.

Make the Sauce:

Use a compact food processor to mince garlic.

Add the following into a small bowl: 3 tbsp. water, 2 tbsp. regular (dark) soy sauce, 2 tbsp. light soy sauce, 1 tbsp. minced garlic, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 2 tbsp. sugar, and 1/2 tbsp. arrowroot flour, mix well and set aside.

Sear the Beef:

Turn the heat to medium-high, heat a 12" non-stick fry-pan for 1 minute.
Add 2 tsp canola oil into the fry-pan, add half of the ginger, half of the marinated beef into the pan, spread out, and lay flat, cook for 2 minutes, and then flip and cook for 1 minute or till both sides browned. Remove from the pan using a slotted turner and place onto a plate.
Repeat the above step and brown the other half of the marinated beef.

Stir Fried Beef and Broccoli:

Add about 1 tsp canola oil into the pan evenly using a homemade oil sprayer, and then add the red onion. Stir-fry for about 15 seconds, and then add seared beef. Continue to stir fry for about 15 seconds.
Quickly blend the sauce in the bowl and pour into the pan on the beef in a circular motion.
Quickly fold and turn using a slotted turner for about 15 seconds.
Add the broccoli into the pan, continue to fold for about 15 seconds. Turn off the heat, and continue to fold for 30 seconds.
All done, add rice and enjoy a super tasty and healthy rice bowl.

Notes

It is easier to cut the semi-frozen steak into thin slices. Therefore if you have steak in the freezer, that's great. Take out the steak a few hours ahead of cooking, and the steak should be in a perfect state to cut into thin slices.
For steak, top round, top sirloin, or flank steak shall all work. The marinating process in this recipe effectively tenderizes the meat.
The key to Chinese stir-fry is marinating meat before cooking. The actual cooking time is a mere few minutes. All the preparation must be done beforehand - the marinating beef is a big part, then cutting & preparing all the herbs and vegetables, and preparing the sauce, etc.
I use arrowroot flour for all my starch needs since I jump-started healthier cooking in 2015. They work just like any other starch option. If you do not have arrowroot flour handy, use other starch you have.
For sugar, "Sugar In the Raw" is my go-to meat cooking sugar. They have a natural deep taste. They are large particles so they slowly melt and release into the food. You can also substitute it with light brown sugar.
My family loves broccoli in this dish. I usually add two heads of broccoli. I found out it is easier to do the final stir-fry in a Wok in this case.