Tender velveted beef slices stir-fried with crisp broccoli florets in a savory, glossy brown sauce of soy, oyster sauce, and garlic. A cornerstone of Cantonese-American restaurant menus.
The dish is the American descendant of Cantonese gai lan chao niu rou, beef stir-fried with Chinese broccoli, carried over by Guangdong immigrants. When tougher-stemmed Chinese broccoli proved hard to source in America, cooks swapped in familiar Western broccoli, and the substitution stuck so firmly that beef and broccoli became one of the most recognizable Chinese takeout dishes in the West.
Silky, melt-in-the-mouth beef plays against snappy broccoli that still has bite, all bound in a savory-sweet brown sauce glossy enough to coat a spoon. Garlic and ginger hum underneath, and the sauce pools perfectly into rice. Comforting and clean.
Velveting the beef with cornstarch and a brief blanch of the broccoli protect both from overcooking, keeping the meat silky and the vegetable green and crisp. The cornstarch-thickened sauce emulsifies into a glaze that clings to every slice.
Variations
Cantonese gai lan beef with Chinese broccoli, with mushrooms or snow peas, black-pepper sauce version, mongolian-style sweeter glaze
On the Palate
Where Beef and Broccoli sits in the American-Chinese flavor cloud
Velvet the beef and keep the wok screaming hot — the cornstarch coat and blast of heat are what keep the meat silky instead of gray and tough.
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
8 steps · 25 min
- 15 min
Slice flank steak thinly against the grain and velvet it with soy sauce, cornstarch, and a little oil.
- 23 min
Blanch broccoli florets in boiling water for one minute, then drain well.
- 32 min
Stir together a sauce of soy sauce, oyster sauce, stock, sugar, and cornstarch.
- 43 min
Heat a wok until smoking, add oil, and sear the beef in a single layer until just browned; remove.
Watch outThe wok should smoke lightly before the beef goes in, and the meat should hiss loudly on contact — that instant sear is what keeps it tender.
- 51 min
Add garlic and ginger to the wok and stir until fragrant.
- 61 min
Add the broccoli and toss over high heat for a minute.
Watch outToss the broccoli over high heat only about a minute — it should stay bright green and still snap.
- 72 min
Return the beef, pour in the sauce, and stir until it thickens and coats everything.
Watch outKeep stirring as the sauce hits the heat until it turns glossy and clings to every piece — that thickening happens in seconds.
- 81 min
Serve hot over steamed rice.
