This beef and Chinese broccoli is so easy to put together and it uses one secret ingredient to make it irresistible! The silky tender beef is so juicy, smothered in a rich brown sauce with crisp Chinese broccoli. It only takes 20 minutes to put together. Top it on steamed rice for a hearty and healthy dinner! {Gluten-Free adaptable}
Beef and Chinese broccoli, or Jie Lan Niu Rou (芥蓝牛肉), is a Cantonese classic. It is a perfect dinner option because it’s so easy to put together. Since Chinese broccoli is a special ingredient, broccoli is sometimes used as a replacement. And I think beef and broccoli is a more familiar version in the US. But if you ever shop in an Asian grocery store and can find Chinese broccoli, I highly recommend making this dish. Chinese broccoli has a slightly stronger taste and tender leaves. Once cooked, the stems turn tender and the leaves soak up the rich sauce. I have to confess that, whenever I make beef and Chinese broccoli, I devour the Chinese broccoli first and leave the beef behind.
Beef and Chinese broccoli ingredients
How to cut Chinese broccoli
My favorite way to cut Chinese broccoli is to:
- Slice the stem on a bias to create small bite-size pisces
- Keep the leaves whole, or halve the very big ones
This way, the Chinese broccoli will be cooked through at the same rate and yield a tender yet crisp texture.
Secret ingredient
Sometimes it can be a bit boring to always serve dishes in brown sauce. That’s why I added a touch of chili oil to the sauce, and the result is AMAZING! Granted, it’s not a traditional ingredient in beef and Chinese broccoli. But it enhances the dish so much that I’d love to share it with you.
For the chili oil, I always recommended a homemade one due to its freshness and great taste. But lately, there are so many great chili oil brands popping up that I think the bottled quality is getting higher and higher. Check out the Mala Market Chili Oil if you do not want to make it at home.
Mise en place
When you’re ready to cook, your table should have:
- Marinated beef
- Mixed sauce
- Garlic and ginger (in one bowl because you add them at the same time)
- Chopped Chinese broccoli
How to cook beef and Chinese broccoli
- Spread the beef on a hot pan. It’s important to leave the beef without moving it, so it sears better. If using a cast iron or carbon steel skillet, the beef won’t stick to the pan as long as you do not move it during the first minute.
- Once the bottom of the beef is seared, flip to cook the other side until just cooked through. You can even remove the beef when it’s still a bit pink inside, because it will continue to cook through after you cook it with the sauce.
- Saute the aromatics to release the fragrance.
- Briefly cook the Chinese broccoli.
- Add the sauce.
- Mix everything together and serve!
I love to serve beef and Chinese broccoli over steamed rice. The rich and fragrant brown sauce is boosted by the spicy nutty chili oil, making it so easy to gobble up a big bowl!
Other delicious Cantonese recipes
- Chinese Broccoli with Oyster Sauce (蚝油芥蓝, Gai Lan)
- Vegetable Chow Fun (蔬菜炒河粉)
- Shrimp with Lobster Sauce
- XO Noodles with Shrimp
- Gua Bao (Taiwanese Pork Belly Buns, 割包)
Beef and Chinese Broccoli (芥蓝牛肉)
Ingredients
Marinade
- 12 oz (340 g) beef flank steak , sliced to 1/4” (4mm) pieces against the grain (or skirt, or flat iron)
- 2 teaspoons Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry)
- 1/2 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon peanut oil (or canola oil)
Sauce
- 1/4 cup beef broth (or chicken broth, or water)
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce (Optional) (*Footnote 1)
- 2 teaspoons homemade chili oil (Optional, but highly recommend)
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper (or black pepper)
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
Stir Fry
- 2 tablespoons peanut oil (or canola oil)
- 2 cloves garlic , sliced
- 8 oz (225 g, or 6 to 8 stalks) gai lan , stem thinly sliced, leaves cut to big bite size pieces
- 1 ” (2 cm) ginger , minced
Instructions
- Combine the beef with the marinade ingredients in a medium-sized bowl. Mix to coat evenly. Let marinate for 10 to 15 minutes while preparing other ingredients.
- Mix the sauce ingredients in a medium-sized bowl and set aside.
- Heat oil in a large skillet over high heat until hot. Spread the beef with as little overlap as possible. Cook without touching until the bottom turns golden brown. Flip to cook the other side until just cooked through, and the inside of the beef is still slightly pink. Remove the beef from the pan and transfer to a plate.
- Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil and the ginger and garlic. Cook and stir until the edge of the garlic turns golden, 30 seconds.
- Add the gai lan. Stir and cook a few times until the leaves just start to wilt, 30 seconds to 1 minute.
- Return the beef to the pan. Stir the sauce again until the cornstarch dissolves completely, then pour it into the pan. Stir and cook until the sauce thickens and coats all the ingredients.
- Transfer everything to a big plate and serve hot over steamed rice as a main course.
Notes
- Dark soy sauce gives the sauce a beautiful dark brown color and a caramelized taste. Skip it if you do not have it.
I love all your recipes. Please send the mall. Tried quite a few. Thanks
Supee tasty and easy to follow. I used thin cut denver steak and it was delicious.
Another great recipe.
I made this the second time I saw it. It’s great! Super easy, delicious, and cheap? Recipes like this are rare. I wanted to let you know, the first time I saw this, I thought “no, I want noodles”, and I used skills I learned from you to make an absolutely delicious cabbage beef noodle soup instead. You’re amazing!
I subbed sliced carrots, sweet peppers and shredded cabbage for the gai lan and the rice.
The point after all was the beef. It was splendid.
This was so easy to make, and the meat came out tender. I didn’t have any Chinese broccoli but I had regular American broccoli but I used julienne red, yellow, green bell peppers and red onion. It came out tender juicy and delicious. Next time I’ll make it with broccoli.
I was wary ( velveting technique) having read differing methods. Needless worry. Quick and reliable. One velveting method (by Asian, mind you) is an overnight process 😳!
I didn’t have gai lan or dark soy. Instead, I used broccoli, dried shiitake, red bell pepper. Forgot to add asparagus.
I doubled the sauce recipe, which was perfect. I will minimize the soy next time as it was a tad salty for me.
A definite repeat.
Thank you!
I think the marinating time could definitely be longer, say 1 hour before cooking. The meat slices will be a little more flavorful that way. It works really well if you have extra time on hand. For example, start marinating the meat, then prepare other side dishes (rice, soup etc), then finish up the stir fry at the end. That being said, I think a shorter marinating works well too. Overnight marinating is definitely not necessary for very thin slices meat like these.