Parenting Cubed

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Beef and Broccoli

Mmmm.. Beef and broccoli..

I’ve been making this recipe for years, taught to me by my best friend, taught to her by her ex boyfriend, taught to him by his parents, taught to them by their parents in China. It was the recipe that all the kids had to learned before they could leave home.

I’ve never actually measured out the ingredients before, I’ve always “eyeballed” it like I was taught and I’m going to show you how I was taught, but I'll be kind and post the recipe at the end of the blog!

So gather up all your ingredients:

Broccoli, flank steak, ginger, dark and light soya and cornstarch and oil.

You have to start with a nice piece of flank steak! Around 1lb for my family! My kids eat a lot! No really, they're skinny minnies but can put back a huge amount at supper!

*mental note* check for tape worms!

Slice it thinly across the grain, and pile it all up on a plate. A sharp knife is a must!

Sprinkle some cornstarch over the meat, then drizzle some light soya over top and then some dark soya.

Remember that dark soya is much saltier so be careful not to put too much!

Next chop your ginger... I love ginger.

Mmmmmm ginger! I always use way more ginger than I should!

If you don’t like ginger don’t use so much, just never used that dried powdered jarred stuff! YUCK!

There's nothing that can compare to fresh ginger!

Doesn’t ginger have some wonderful medicinal purpose?

Did I mention that I love ginger!

Set it aside for now!

Alright, next up is the broccoli! Chop it, wash it and set it aside! (I sometimes sprinkle extra ginger on the broccoli) Mmmm.. ginger...

Heat up your wok with some oil and throw in some ginger then your meat.

There is actually an ancient Chinese secret to beef and broccoli.

No no.. really there is!!

It's to keep your meat moving! Keep stirring, mixing. Your arm will burn, it will hurt, and you'll end up with a forearm the size of Popeye's, but keep that meat moving, and you'll see the meat slowly starts to release it's juices.

Set the meat aside, and add a bit more oil to your still HOT wok, and drop in the broccoli (you can add more ginger if you want)

Add about 1/4 c of water to the broccoli and cover it. Cook it the broccoli turns a nice dark green, but still has some crunch to it and add your cooked beef to the broccoli in the wok.

Now, here is another little secret... you might have some liquid left over from the broccoli you could just ditch it or...shhh here's the secret.. you can keep it aside and after adding your beef to the wok, you can decide if you want the dish a bit more "saucy", by adding the liquid.

Give the whole thing a stir to warm up the beef and serve it on a bed of rice!

This recipe can be made while the rice is cooking and usually be finished before the rice is done!!

So easy, but still oh so yummy!!

Here's the full recipe:

1 1/2 lbs flank steak

1 lb broccoli (about 3 medium heads)

2 heaping Tbsp fresh ginger

1 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch

3 Tbsp light soya

2 Tbsp dark soya

2 Tbsp oil

1/4 cup water

Cut the flank in half length wise following the grain, then cut across the the grain to make small, thin, bite size slices. Set aside onto a large plate. Sprinke with dark and light soya, and cornstach. Give the meat a quick toss to cover all the peices.

Chop the broccoli into even sized spears and wash it.

Chop the ginger and set aside.

Heat your wok on high, about 1 tbsp of oil, once hot add about 1 Tbsp of the ginger. Fry for 30 seconds to "flavor" your oil and add your meat. Keep stirring till the beef is cooked through. Remove from wok and set aside.

In hot wok, add the remaining 1Tbsp oil and as much of the remaining ginger you would like. Fry for 30 seconds, and add broccoli. Fry for 2 minutes and add water and cover until cooked but still firm.

Add your beef to your cooked broccoli and mix till warm.

Serve over a bed of rice.