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Beef with Broccoli

A stir‑fry of marinated beef and broccoli in a savory sauce.

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

Ingredients

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

  • Marinade for Beef

Directions

Marinate and prepare

  1. Slice beef and mix together the marinade ingredients. Add the marinade to the beef and marinate for thirty minutes.

  2. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons of oil to the beef, mix in thoroughly, and marinate the beef for another thirty minutes.

  3. While the beef is marinating, prepare the vegetables.

Cook the beef

  1. Heat the wok and add 1 cup of oil. When the oil is ready, add the beef and stir-fry until it is nearly cooked.

  2. Remove the beef and set it aside on a plate. Drain the wok and wipe it clean with a paper towel.

Cook the broccoli

  1. Add 1/2 cup water to the wok. Bring the water to a boil and add the broccoli.

  2. Cover and cook until the broccoli is cooked through.

  3. Drain the wok.

Finish and serve

  1. Heat the wok and add oil (about 2 tablespoons). Add the garlic and stir-fry for about 1 minute.

  2. Add the vegetables and beef and mix together. Make a well in the middle of the wok and add the sauce ingredients.

  3. Add cornstarch, stirring to thicken. Mix the sauce together with the other ingredients. Serve hot.

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. Broccoli + sesametop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together372 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).

  3. Beef + sesametop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together392 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).

  4. Egg + oystertop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together4,093 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Oyster + saucetop 8% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together2,233 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

What each ingredient does

Beef
Provides the main protein, which stays tender and juicy when sliced thin and marinated.
Egg
Binds the marinade so it coats the beef evenly.
Cornstarch
Thickens the sauce and coats the beef for a glossy, silky texture.
Broccoli
Adds crisp-tender texture and fresh, green vegetable body.
Oyster sauce
Adds savory depth and gentle sweetness to the sauce.
Garlic
Adds aroma as it cooks briefly in hot oil.

The step that matters

Add cornstarch, stirring to thicken.. Starch granules swell when heated in liquid, which thickens the sauce. Adding the cornstarch while stirring keeps it smooth and prevents lumps, while too little leaves the sauce thin and too much makes it gluey.

Flavor stand-ins for the sesame

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, egg, wine, broccoli, oyster, sauce, sugar):

  1. Sesamethe original
  2. Peasabout as good a flavor fit
  3. Beansabout as good a flavor fit

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, egg, wine, broccoli, oyster, sauce, sugar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).

“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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