by Ethan Johnson
September 28, 2005

[UPDATE 1/10/2007:] Now available as a video!

Face the facts: Gas is expensive, Chinese food is cheap, and something's gotta give. Well, rather than paying $49.95 for delivery for something that costs $4 to make at home, how about making it at home?

Well, now you can, so let's get ready to wok with:

Beef & Broccoli Stir-Fry

Note: Adapted from "Beef & Oyster Sauce" found in Chinese Cooking Made Easy by Mu-Tsun Lee. As per usual, this gets the EJ treatment, so it's mine, mine all mine.

1 lb beef flank steak (or London Broil, although Flank is better)
2-3 green onions
1-2 heads broccoli (or frozen florets if fresh stuff isn't available)
1/2 tbsp minced ginger root (as desired)
1 small can water chestnuts (as desired)
Sesame seeds (optional)
Pure olive oil for frying

Marinade:

1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp white wine
1 tbsp flour OR cornstarch (flour seems to work just fine)
1 tbsp water

Sauce:

2 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tbsp white wine
1/2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tbsp flour OR cornstarch (same as above)
Dash of pepper
Sesame oil (as desired)

(Serves 2.)

1. We begin by making plain white rice. In the time it takes to cook that, you can make the rest of this. Seriously.

2. Cut your beef of choice (flank steak is better, just sayin') into 2" strips horizontally.

   

   Trim away excessive fat and discard.

3. Cut the horizontal strips into thin vertical strips. The picture below doesn't contain thin enough strips, but you get the general idea, I trust.

   

4. Once all of the usable meat has been sliced accordingly, put the strips into a bowl.

   

5. Add the marinade ingredients to the bowl of meat, and stir thoroughly so all pieces are coated.

   

   The flour (or cornstarch) won't coat all of the meat, which is totally fine.

6. While the meat sits in the marinade bowl, wash and thinly slice the green onions and put into a second bowl.

   

7. Wash and cut the broccoli florets (as needed, depending on if they are in a bag or on a stalk). Put the broccoli into the same bowl as the onions.

   

8. (Optional) Mince some ginger root and dump into the bowl holding the onions and broccoli. Add water chestnuts to bowl (minus liquid) as desired.

9. Pour some oil into a wok or skillet, and set over medium-high heat.

10. Once the [pan] is heated, spoon in the marinaded meat (don't dump everything in there) into the [pan].

    

11. Stir-fry the meat until medium-well. If unsure of center redness, cut a piece in half to check.

    

12. While the meat is cooking, toss together the sauce (see above) in another bowl. Yes, this is fast to make, but it uses a lot of dishes.

    

13. Once the meat is ready, remove it from the [pan] and set aside (such as on a paper plate).

14. Dump the onions/broccoli/ginger/water chestnuts into the [pan] and stir-fry for 1-2 minutes.

    

15. Add the meat back into the pan, and pour the sauce over it. Turn the heat down to "low" and cover the [pan].

    

16. Cook the contents of the [pan] until "steamy".

17. Sprinkle sesame seeds over contents of [pan] (as desired).

18. Turn up the heat to medium-high and stir-fry contents of [pan] for one more minute.

19. Dish up the rice, and pile on the [pan] contents.

20. Ta da!

Enjoy! Let me know how it turns out. <EM>