Beef with Broccoli

I made up this recipe based on my mom's cashew chicken, which I make often. I adapted it to beef and broccoli by adding vegetables and using beef broth instead of chicken broth in the sauce. It's good!

When I make stir fry dishes, I like to have a mise en place. That's the fancy way to say all my stuff chopped and ready to go. Since the idea with a stir fry is to cook things quickly, you need to be ready - you don't want the beef to burn while you're chopping broccoli!



For this, I use green onions, pepper (yellow this time), broccoli and mushrooms, along with garlic (of course)! And the beef! I used round steak but sirloin steak is probably my preferred cut for this recipe.

To make the sauce, add soy sauce, cornstarch and sugar to the beef broth, and whisk well to combine.



Now you're ready to cook. First, heat a bit of oil in the skillet, then add the beef. You want the skillet to be plenty hot. If it is, you'll only need to cook the meat about 3-4 minutes, stirring often.



Remove the beef to a bowl and wipe out the pan, then add a bit more oil. When it's hot, add the onion, garlic, and peppers,



then the broccoli, and stir fry for 2-3 minutes until they're crisp tender and brightly colored.



Then add the mushrooms and stir fry another 1-2 minutes. (Mushrooms cook a lot faster so I add them last.)



Give the sauce another whisking and then add to the vegetables. Because of the cornstarch, it will start to thicken right away. Stir constantly until it is nicely thickened and coating the vegetables. It will boil slightly and get darker in color.



Then add the beef to the pan, and stir well to coat everything. Let it simmer for a minute or so to thoroughly warm the meat.



You can serve this over rice or soba noodles.

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Beef with Broccoli

2-3 T. vegetable oil
1 pound sirloin steak, diced
4 green onions, sliced
1 red/green/orange pepper, diced
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
3 cups chopped fresh broccoli
1 cup fresh mushrooms, quartered
3/4 cup beef broth
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. cornstarch

Combine beef broth, soy sauce, sugar and cornstarch in measuring cup; whisk well to dissolve cornstarch. Set aside.

Heat 2 Tbsp. oil in skillet and stir fry beef until medium rare, about 3 minutes. Set beef in a bowl and wipe out skillet. Add 1-2 Tbsp. oil to skillet and stir fry onion, garlic, broccoli and pepper for 3 minutes til brightly colored and crisp tender. Add mushrooms and cook another 2 minutes. Whisk the sauce again and add to the pan, stirring frequently until sauce boils gently and thickens. Add the beef and stir well to coat.

Serve over rice or soba noodles.