Broccoli Beef

Like I said before I don’t know how to cook Asian food, however, I am always wanting to try new things. I found this recipe and love it. You should try it too!

First find a nice piece of meat. A sirloin or flank steak is probably good. Slice it up nice and thin. I then like to get all my sauces ready, so pull out your House Wife soy sauce. There is a marinade for the beef and then a sauce for the stir fry part. It’s nice to just get it all done a once.In a small bowl throw in some soy sauce.Grab your cornstarch. Dump a few teaspoons into the soy sauce. Mix it up really well. That’ll really make the soy sauce stick to the meat Pour the mixture over the beef and let it marinade. It says for ten minutes, but sometimes I’ll start in the morning, so all I have to do is fry everything up at dinner time. I end up marinating all day. The next sauce I mix up is the stir fry sauce. You mix all of these bad boys together and put it aside until it’s time to use it. Now it’s time to prepare the broccoli. Cut that up nice and neat. Next chop up some garlic. I use a lot, more than the recipe calls for, since I love garlic. I like to have all of my food prep ready before I start cooking. It just makes things a lot easier. Then take a photograph of your cute little helper. There’s something about her eyes. They’re different than the other kids. She’s also into blowing raspberries when she talks to you. Adorable, right? Okay, back to cooking. Get your wok out. Poor a little water in the bottom and add the broccoli. We’re going to steam them until they are soft. They should have a nice bright green color to them. Mmm… My kids actually like broccoli because of this dish. Remove the broccoli and set it aside. Not too far because you’ll need it soon. Dump out the water that is left from steaming the broccoli. Then wipe the pan dry. Water and oil don’t mix so don’t forget this step. Did I mention that I love garlic? Add a little sesame oil to the pan along with your garlic. Brown it up. Next add your meat. Can you smell it yet? It’s making me hungry. Cook the meat until the redness is gone.Remember that sauce you made earlier when you were marinating the beef? Grab it and pour it over the top of the beef. Simmer it for a few minutes. Lastly, add your broccoli back in. Mix everything together thoroughly, but not too long. You don’t want the broccoli to get mushy.

Serve it all up on top of some fragrant jasmine rice.

Broccoli Beef with Rice

Ingredients:

• 
  
  
  1 lb of flank steak or sirloin
• 
  
  
  1 lb of broccoli florets
• 
  
  
  cooking oil (I like sesame oil for Asian dishes. It smells good.)
• 
  
  
  Minced garlic

Beef Marinade:

• 
  
  
  1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 
  
  
  1 teaspoon Chinese rice wine
• 
  
  
  1/2 teaspoon cornstarch

Stir Fry Sauce:

• 
  
  
  3 Tablespoons oyster sauce
• 
  
  
  2 teaspoons Chinese rice wine
• 
  
  
  2 teaspoons Chinese black vinegar

1. In a bowl, combine the ingredients for the Beef Marinade. Add the beef and let marinate for 10 minutes at room temperature or all day in the fridge.
2. In a small bowl, mix together the ingredients for the Stir-fry Sauce.
3. In a wok or large sauté pan, add 1 inch (2.5 cm) of water and bring to a boil. Add the broccoli and cover to steam for 3 minutes. The broccoli should be bright green, crisp tender and you should be able to pierce the stem with a fork. Drain.
4. Discard the water in the pan and dry the pan well. Set the pan over high heat and when hot, add the high-heat cooking oil and swirl to coat. Add the garlic and fry for 15 to 30 seconds, until fragrant. Add the steak strips, keeping them in one layer and fry 30 seconds. Flip the strips and fry the other side.
5. Pour in the Stir-fry Sauce and stir to combine. Simmer until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 30 seconds. Add the cooked broccoli back into the pan and toss to coat well.
I adapted this recipe from The Pioneer Woman Cooks as well as The Steamy Kitchen. I love these ladies. They both have great cookbooks. Get them for Christmas!

It's An Asian Thing

My name is Jan and I'm Asian. Thai to be exact, in case you were wondering. However, even though I'm Asian I don't really know how to cook anything Asian. In fact, I have a neighbor who cooks Asian food better than I do. I'm getting better though, if you want to compare it to never even wanting to eat Thai food growing up. That's right. My poor mom always made Thai food for my dad and herself while also making my brother and me "American" food. Now we both really enjoy Thai food and I wish I knew how to cook a few more dishes.

This brings me to this funny bottle of soy sauce. Don't you love it? It's for housewives. There's a good sized Asian store near our house. It's a hoot to visit not just for the different things they sell, but also to read some of the labels. Now I actually use quite a bit of soy sauce in my cooking. I don't know anything about what brands are good or if there is even any difference. I just want some soy sauce. I usually call my mom, but when she's in Thailand I can't just call at anytime. There's a fourteen hour time difference and she's usually sleeping after figuring out the time difference. So I walk down this aisle and I kid you not, soy sauce has almost an entire aisle to itself. There isn't just soy sauce. There's dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, and even black soy sauce. Then they have thick soy sauce and sweet soy sauce. Really? What's a girl to do? I have no idea which one to get. Then I see it: House Wife soy sauce. I'm a housewife so why not. It looks normal. It's on sale. And there's "No Preservative Added." Whatever that means. I'm not up on that kind of stuff. I buy it since it looks good to me. Some of the labels on the soy sauce I can't even read. Maybe that means that they are better? Who knows. Well, I am home with my soy sauce and it looks good and tastes good. Maybe I'll have some Asian recipes to share in a bit. :)

It’s an Asian Thing…

My parents were in town last week. They made a road trip out of it and brought friend with them that is visiting from Thailand. Notice anything a little odd about this photo? This is the table I set up for the kids to do their school work and color or do crafts. It’s just their size- kid size. Our house has plenty of seating areas. We have a dining table in the kitchen. It also has chairs around it. We also have a family room with comfortable couches and a couple lounge chairs. Of all the places to sit, my dad and his friend chose to sit at the mini table on mini chairs. They are just enjoying themselves chatting, reading the newspaper, and drinking wine. This what they did almost every day. I think it’s an Asian thing. :)