Damn electric stove tops!
Typically I avoid cooking anything on high heat on the stove top because it’s simply not necessary. But alas, this dish (which although many people state to be a Chinese dish, I have yet to be convinced) pratically screams to be cooked with as many BTU’s as possible. Get your skillet/wok hot, hot, hot and you should be okay. If not, you run risk of overcooking the broccoli, which is best hot and crisp when completed.
You’ll note that I didn’t deep fry the beef strips, a common practice in this dish. You can if you wish, but I was shooting for something a little less “oily”. It came out better than I expected.(If you fry your beef, add it to the skillet/wok after the broccoli in the last paragraph below.)
- 1 Tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon corn starch
- 2 teaspoons chili oil
- 1/2 lb beef strips, cut into bite size (skirt steak works incredibly well here)
- 1 Tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 Tablespoon Sake
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon. black pepper
- 2 Tablespoons water
- 1 teaspoon. corn starch
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 lb of broccoli, stems removed
- 1 Tablespoon sliced ginger root
- 1/2 carrot, sliced thin
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together 1 Tablespoon of soy sauce, 1 teaspoon of corn starch and the chili oil. Place in your slices of beef and allow to marinate for 15-minutes to an hour.
While the beef is marinating, in a small mixing bowl, mix the remaining soy sauce, sake, sugar, black pepper, 2 Tablespoons water, corn starch and sesame oil. Ensure that the mixture is emulsified.
Bring a medium sauce pan, 3/4 full of water, to a roiling boil. Add the broccoli and cook for 1 minute. Remove broccoli and place it in ice water to ‘shock’ it (This should prevent color and nutrient loss to the broccoli). Remove broccoli from ice water and set aside for a moment.
Meanwhile, bring your skillet/wok up to high temperature with 2-4 tablespoons of sesame oil. Cook the beef until it starts developing a bit of crispiness to it. Timing here is crucial, because you want to have the broccoli at the ready almost immediately after the beef is set to go. I erred on the side of caution and got pan fried beef. Not bad but not what I was looking for either.
As you add the broccoli, add the ginger, carrots and the second sauce that you had made. Cook for 2 to 4 minutes. Be careful not to over cook the broccoli at this point.
Plate immediately and serve.
Serves 1 – 2
