When you're ordering from a Chinese restaurant, what's your go-to meal? Mine has always been chicken lo mein and sweet and sour chicken. My husband's has always been some type of beef and broccoli.
When I was in high school, my best friend and I ordered from this little Chinese restaurant in town every Friday night. It is still my favorite place to order from. Not too greasy, but just greasy enough. The food comes out perfect, every single time. I judge a Chinese restaurant on their lo mein, since that's my favorite, but the sweet and sour chicken as well. This place nails it, every single time.
For my husband, it's the beef and broccoli. On our third date we ordered take out from a Chinese restaurant in town and naturally, he gravitated towards the beef and broccoli. He still does, every time we order! When I told him I was going four consecutive days of Chinese fake out recipes, he was super excited, mostly for this recipe. The lo mein is, by far, my favorite, but I had to make this one on day two.
I've mentioned this in a few of my posts but my family has a small hunting cabin in Northern Minnesota and we go deer hunting every year. I'm not the biggest meat eater in the world but I do love when I know exactly where the meat I consume came from, and how/where it was processed. Mostly, that it is processed as little as possible. For this recipe, I used venison steaks that I had in the freezer but, of course, you can use any cut. The beauty of this recipe is the marinating trick that keeps the meat tender, every single time. This way, just like you would with a roast, you can afford to purchase a less expensive cut of meat. When those roasts or steaks are on sale at the store, stock up and keep this recipe saved!
The real trick is really with the marinating and thaw time. You can always make this on the fly, if you have something thawing in your fridge but to keep the meat as tender as possible, you'll want to keep a close eye on the directions below to give it adequate time to thaw, come to room temperature, and marinade. Venison steaks tend to be a tougher cut of meat but this dish was so tender, you'd think we bought an expensive steak. NOT the case at all. It also doesn't require a lot of work. Just throwing a few ingredients into a bowl, and leaving it on the counter.
Let me know what you think and if you give it a shot! As always, feel free to follow me on Facebook and Instagram for daily recipes. I always have lots of stories full of new recipes, MASSIVE food fails (always entertaining), and quick meals for those busy times!
Ingredients:
2 lbs steak cuts, sliced thinly (beef, venison, whatever you prefer)
4 cups broccoli
1/4 cup green onion (for garnish)
For the beef marinade -
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 tablespoons corn starch
2 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon minced garlic
For the sauce -
1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce (gluten-free)
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons dried ginger
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1/2 cup beef broth
2 teaspoons corn starch
Directions:
In a large bowl, mix the marinade ingredients together. Thinly slice the steaks and add that to the marinade. Allow the steaks to come to room temperature, and let the steaks sit for at least an hour on your counter. Cooking the beef when they have been brought completely down to room temperature is very important because this causes the meat to stay tender, rather than toughen up.
When you are ready to prepare your meal, mix together the ingredients for the sauce, set aside.
Steam broccoli so that it is almost fork tender. Not completely, as it will continue to cook when everything is brought together.
Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add a little oil and when that is hot, add the steak. Cook until beef is cooked almost all the way through, about 4-5 minutes, stirring every minute or so.
Add broccoli and sauce to the pan, cook for a few minutes as everything comes together.
Remove from heat, put over a bed of rice, and top with toasted sesame seeds. The sesame seeds aren't an essential part of the recipe BUT I really do like the flavor they have on top of the dish.