Beef and Broccoli Stir-Fry

1. Marinate the beef:
2. Stir together the beef marinade ingredients (1 teaspoon soy sauce, 1 teaspoon Chinese rice wine, 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch, 1/8 teaspoon black pepper) in a medium bowl.
3. Add the beef slices and stir until coated. Let stand for 10 minutes.
   10 minutes
4. Prepare the sauce:
5. Stir together the sauce ingredients (2 tablespoons oyster sauce, 1 teaspoon Chinese rice wine, 1 teaspoon soy sauce, 1/4 cup chicken broth) in a small bowl. Set aside.
6. Blanch or steam the broccoli:
7. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the broccoli and cook until crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Drain thoroughly.
   2 minutes
8. Stir-fry the beef:
9. Heat a large frying pan or wok over high heat until a bead of water sizzles and instantly evaporates upon contact. Add the cooking oil and swirl to coat.
10. Add the beef and immediately spread it out all over the surface of the wok or pan in a single layer (preferably not touching).
11. Let the beef fry undisturbed for 1 minute. Flip the beef slices over, add the garlic to the pan, and fry for an additional 30 seconds to 1 minute until no longer pink.
    1 minute30 seconds1 minute
12. Add the sauce, cornstarch, and broccoli:
13. Pour in the sauce and the cornstarch slurry (1 teaspoon cornstarch dissolved in 1 tablespoon of water). Stir until the sauce boils and thickens, about 30 seconds. Stir in the broccoli.
    30 seconds
14. Serve immediately, with steamed rice or on its own.

Cooking notes

When scaling protein-led dishes, weigh the meat rather than counting pieces, and remember that the pan size limits how much you can sear at once.

For volume-to-weight conversions of any ingredient — flour, sugar, butter, salts — use the ingredient converter. To translate the recipe's oven temperature between °C, °F and gas mark, see the temperature converter.

When you scale this recipe up or down, remember that cooking time does not scale linearly. A doubled cake takes longer, but not twice as long; a doubled soup takes roughly twice as long. The cooking-time guide gives sensible starting estimates by dish geometry.