Beef with broccoli and oyster sauce

Want to put that wok to great use? Here’s a dish that will help you make the most of it, courtesy of one of our absolute favourite TV chefs: the great Adam Liaw.

One of the most useful skills in wok cooking is “blanching”. Pre-cooking vegetables before frying means they will cook faster and more completely when combined in the wok.

SERVES: 4
PREPARATION TIME: 10 mins preparation, 10 minutes marinating
COOKING TIME: 15 minutes

INGREDIENTS

• 500g rump steak, thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp peanut oil
• 2 cups broccoli florets
• 3 thin slices ginger, bruised
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly
• chopped
• 1 small onion, peeled and thinly sliced
• ¼ cup oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp stock or water
• ½ tsp sugar
• 1 tsp cornflour mixed with 1 tbsp cold
• stock or water
• Chillies in Soy Sauce (page 29), to serve
• Meat marinade
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• ½ tsp cornflour
• A pinch white pepper

METHOD

1. Combine the beef with the marinade ingredients and set aside for at least 10 minutes.
2. Heat a cup or two of water in the wok until boiling, add about a teaspoon of the oil and blanch the broccoli for about 1 minute, or until it is bright green and slightly softened. Remove and set aside until ready to fry.
3. Drain the water from the wok and dry the wok over the flame. Add the remaining oil and add the ginger first then the garlic to the oil, then the onion and fry until the onion is softened. Scoop the onion, garlic and ginger out of the oil and add to the broccoli.
4. Using the flavoured oil left in the wok, fry the beef in batches until well browned. Return all the ingredients back to the wok and toss together. Add the oyster sauce, soy sauce, stock and sugar and toss to coat. Slowly drizzle the cornflour mixture into the wok while tossing, until the liquids thicken and cling to the ingredients.
5. Remove to a plate, rest for a minute and serve with rice and some chillies in Soy Sauce.

Adam’s notes

• You don’t need to cook the broccoli all the way through while blanching.
• Remember, you aren’t stopping the cooking process with cold water so
• the broccoli will continue to cook after you take it out of the wok.
• Oil-blanching is a popular technique in wok cooking in restaurants where
• meat or vegetables are boiled in oil before wok-frying. It tastes great, but
• I prefer to use water as the dish turns out less oily.

This recipe is from Adam Liaw’s Asian Cookery School, available now from Hachette Australia.