Beef with Broccoli

Serves: 4

Prep + Cook Time: One hour

Calories: 446 (without rice)

A quick word about sodium in this recipe: You can easily substitute low-sodium chicken broth and light (low-sodium) soy sauce for the ingredients listed below. Also, if you serve this with rice, you could leave the salt out of that. Oyster sauce is very salty.)

Ingredients:

Marinade:

• 1 1/2 pounds flank steak , trimmed*

• 2 tsp cornstarch

• 2 tbsp soy sauce

• 2 tbsp water

• 1 tsp mirin (rice wine)

Stir-Fry

• 3/4 c. chicken broth 

• 2 tbsp oyster sauce

• 1 to 1-1/2 tbsp light soy sauce (depending on how salty you want the sauce)

• 1 tsp soy sauce

• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil

• 1 tbsp brown sugar

• 3 tsp cornstarch

• 4 large scallions , thinly sliced and divided between light and dark parts

• 1 lb small broccoli florets

• 2 tsp minced ginger

• 2 tsp minced garlic

• 2 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil , divided

• ground white pepper , to taste

Directions:

Marinate the Steak

1. Freeze flank steak for 15-20 minutes, until just starting to firm. Cut against the grain into 1/8-inch thick slices, cutting long slices in half with the grain into two pieces.

2. In a bowl, toss steak slices with cornstarch. Add soy sauce, water, and rice wine, and toss to coat. Marinate for 15-20 minutes.

Make the Stir-Fry :

1. In a bowl, combine chicken broth, oyster sauce, light and dark soy sauces, sesame oil, brown sugar, cornstarch, and the white and light green parts of the scallions (about 1/2 cup scallions). Set aside.

2. Heat 1-1/2 tsp vegetable oil over high heat in a large (12-inch) skillet or wok until shimmering. 

3. Pat the steak slices dry with paper towels and add half of them to the skillet, separating them with tongs into a single layer. Let them sit, undisturbed, for 1 minute. Then, use tongs to stir the beef around in the pan until it is brown around the edges, about 1 minute longer. Transfer to a bowl.

4. Add another 1-1/2 tsp oil to the pan, heat, and repeat the process with the remaining beef. 

5. When all of the beef has been cooked and removed from the pan, heat 1 tbsp of vegetable oil. Add the broccoli and cook, stirring, until crisp-tender, 2-4 minutes, depending on the size of your florets.

6. Clear an area in the center of the pan. Heat 1-1/2 tsp vegetable oil and add minced ginger and garlic. Cook for about 30 seconds, until fragrant, and then stir it into the broccoli. Add the meat and any accumulated juices back into the pan and toss to combine.

7. Whisk the chicken broth mixture to recombine any cornstarch that might've settled in the bowl. Pour the sauce around the pan. Lower heat to medium, and cook, stirring, until the sauce is thickened and evenly coats the meat and broccoli, about 1-2 minutes.

8. Season to taste with white pepper, sprinkle with remaining sliced scallions.

You can serve this over rice, although we ate it without.

*I didn’t have flank steak on hand, so I used a ribeye, cut into 1/4 inch slices. I followed the same instructions, some of the meat ended up medium rare which was perfect for us. It was tasty, but raised the per serving calories to 669 (without rice).