Broccoli Beef and Other Ideas for Simple Meals

I may not know how to make Szechuan pork the way my favorite Chinese restaurant used to do it, but beef and broccoli with a quick sauce is one of those simple meals that’s easier than ordering takeout.

This thinly sliced beef was great for this. I dusted it with some corn starch and then seared it in a hot pan with some oil. Then I removed the meat and added enough water to the pan to scrape up all the brown bits with a metal spatula. (I didn’t have any beef broth handy or else I might have used that. But I decided that the browned bits would add enough flavor anyway.) Once that had reduced, I tossed in some minced garlic and minced ginger (from the freezer) and cooked those for a couple minutes before adding:

• Mirin (sweet cooking sake)
• Soy sauce
• Go-Chu-Jang (Korean style hot/sweet sauce)
• Water

I was just looking for a pleasing balance of sweet, salty and spicy. So eyeball the amounts and make it according to your taste. I always have soy sauce (salty) and mirin (sweet) and a bottle of something spicy hot around. Experiment with other ingredients if you don’t have these. Sugar and water or sugar and broth of some kind? Chili flakes? I used to keep oyster sauce and black bean sauce in my refrigerator, but I guess I don’t use them often enough to remember to restock them. Develop your intuition in the kitchen and start cooking without a recipe.

Once the sauce is boiling, toss in your broccoli florets and beef. Cover and reduce to simmer. Cook just until the broccoli is tender when pierced with a fork and the sauce has thickened up a little bit. It doesn’t take much more than 5 minutes. Quick and easy. Served over brown rice, it’s pretty healthy too, as simple meals should be.

Authentic?

Am I claiming to be an expert in authentic Chinese food? No way! Did this dish taste good and have my husband asking me to make it again? Yes.

I enjoy foods from all over the world and when I have had the privilege to sample some of them at the homes of friends from other countries, I often ask how to make a particular dish. Frequently I have been told that they will have to continue to make it for me because I wouldn’t know how it’s supposed to taste, so I shouldn’t try. Hooray for someone volunteering to cook for me! However, while it’s true that my palate would probably not be able to replicate every nuanced flavor the way a native would make it, I will forever try to do my best with what I have.

So, I encourage you also to try to identify the main ingredients of your favorite restaurant or ethnic dishes and experiment in your own kitchen. Play around with the various flavor components and see how they complement one another. You might end up liking your own version even better! Simple meals adapted to your own taste are so rewarding.

Try a similar sauce with different vegetables and chicken.

By the way, just because I only used broccoli florets above does not mean I threw the stems away. As long as you peel them, they’re perfectly flavorful and tender, either raw or cooked. Zero waste cooking! They were great in this salad another day.

Here’s an example of a “pantry salad”: canned garbanzo beans pair nicely with red cabbage and broccoli stems, which have a long shelf life when refrigerated. Simple meals can also be healthy!

For another Asian inspired dish using similar ingredients, please read Butakim next.