Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry

Beef and broccoli is a takeout classic that most people have never made better than average at home — mostly because the sauce gets wrong. The right sauce is dark, glossy, savory with soy, slightly sweet, and just thick enough to coat without drowning. The beef needs to be sliced thin against the grain and velveted to stay tender under the heat. Get these two things right and this beats any delivery version.

Ingredients

Velvet the Beef

Toss sliced beef with baking soda, 1 tbsp soy sauce, and 1 tsp cornstarch. Marinate 15 minutes. This velveting technique tenderizes the beef at the cellular level — the baking soda raises the pH and prevents proteins from tightening under heat. Rinse lightly before cooking.

The Stir Fry

• Heat wok or large pan until smoking
• Cook beef in a single layer 60 seconds per side — set aside
• Stir fry garlic and ginger 30 seconds
• Add blanched broccoli, toss 1 minute
• Return beef, add combined sauces
• Add cornstarch slurry, toss until sauce thickens and coats — about 60 seconds
• Finish with sesame oil off the heat

"Blanch the broccoli first — 2 minutes in salted boiling water, then ice bath. Pre-cooked broccoli needs only 1 minute in the wok, which means it stays vivid green and has some crunch. Raw broccoli in a stir fry either burns or stays raw."