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Beef with Broccoli Stir-fry

Stir‑fry of sliced beef and broccoli in a sauce of oyster, soy, and cornstarch.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 17 ingredients
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Why it works: Beef and broccoli work together. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and 577 recipes mention both. Both carry linalool, which smells floral, citrus. The science ↓

The recipe

Time30 minutes

Ingredients

Contains: wheat, soy, shellfish (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

  • Marinade
  • Sauce
  • Thickener
  • To Cook Broccoli
  • Other

Directions

Prepare

  1. Cut the beef across the grain into thin slices.

  2. Add the marinate ingredients, adding the cornstarch last (use your fingers to rub it in). Marinate the beef for 30 minutes.

  3. While the beef is marinating, prepare the sauce: mix together the oyster sauce, light soy, dark soy, and water in a small bowl and set aside.

  4. In another small bowl, mix the cornstarch and water thickener and set aside.

  5. Wash and drain the broccoli. Cut the stalk diagonally into thin slices. Cut the florets into 3 or 4 pieces.

  6. Crush the garlic.

Sear the beef

  1. Heat the wok and add 1 cup oil.

  2. When the oil is medium‑hot (between 300 and 325°F), add the beef.

  3. Blanch the beef by letting it lay flat for 30–40 seconds, then stir to separate the pieces.

  4. Remove the beef when it changes color and is nearly cooked (1–2 minutes).

  5. Remove the beef from the wok and drain on paper towels.

  6. Clean out the wok with paper towels.

Cook the broccoli

  1. Add 2 tablespoons oil to the wok.

  2. When the oil is hot, add the crushed garlic and stir‑fry briefly until aromatic.

  3. Add the broccoli, sprinkle the salt and sugar over, and stir‑fry briefly, turning down the heat if necessary to prevent burning.

  4. Add 1/2 cup water, cover, and cook the broccoli for 4–5 minutes until bright green and tender but still crisp.

  5. Remove from the wok and drain.

  6. Clean out the wok.

Combine and serve

  1. Add 2 more tablespoons oil.

  2. Add the vegetables and the beef.

  3. Add the sauce and cornstarch mixture in the middle of the wok and stir quickly to thicken.

  4. Mix everything together and serve hot over steamed rice.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

This recipe comes from the Recipes Wiki on Fandom and is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Our formatting and summaries are shared under the same licence.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Beef + broccolitop 10% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together577 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  2. Beef + ricetop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together2,175 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).

  3. Rice + broccolitop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together609 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  4. Vinegar + broccolitop 7% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together1,286 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  5. Vinegar + sugartop 8% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together20,804 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Beef
Thin slices of lean beef, blanched in hot oil, stay tender and juicy when cooked briefly.
Cornstarch
Thickens the sauce into a glossy coating and helps the beef hold moisture during marinating.
Oyster sauce
Adds savory depth and umami that forms the base flavor of the sauce.
Soy sauce
Provides salty, savory flavor and darker color to the sauce and marinade.
Broccoli
Adds crisp-tender texture and fresh flavor; steaming with water keeps it bright green.
Garlic
Releases aroma when stir-fried briefly in oil, flavoring the oil and dish.

The step that matters

Blanching the beef in hot oil. Oil at 300 to 325°F, kept from overcrowding, sears the surface quickly so the beef stays tender; overcooking toughens the thin slices.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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