Spicy Orange Beef & Broc on Brown

Yeep ngao yook. There are certain Cantonese terms that can't be translated to English in a way that properly conveys the meaning, and/or quite simply, just sound richer and more satisfying when spoken in Chinese. Yeep ngao yook is my best attempt at reverse Cantonese Pinyin for marinate beef, and I love the way it's said. Uttering the 3 short syllables alone seem to imply that some major accomplishment is about to be had. Well, it's true. Because you're about to stir fry a spicy, delicious bowl of health. 


OK, so there's one ingredient in this recipe that isn't healthy at all: Coca-cola. But it's just 1 1/2 tbsps, and you can use Coke Zero if it makes you feel better! This might be an Asian thing since I recall my parents marinating chicken wings with coke, but it also makes sense a soft drink with acidity levels high enough that it can be used as a household cleaner would also work as a meat tenderizer. The beef in this stir fry practically melts in your mouth, so give it a try if you've got some handy. 

Before we get to the recipe, I'm going to take a teeny tiny moment to encourage reducing our enormous ecological footprint. This stir fry calls for 2 broccoli crowns. Now, we all know that any broccoli crown is sold with less of a stem than a broccoli bunch... but there's still stem involved. So, what do you do with it? Throw it out, right? Maybe it's because crowns are more expensive than bunches that people tend to turn their noses up at the stems as something undesirable, inedible, and to be discarded. Although stems are not as pretty and are a bit more high maintenance (requires some peeling), they are just as nutritious as their dark green tops! With the staggering amount of food being wasted in this world (1.3 billion tons per year!!!), I really hope each of us can please do our little part in limiting the food we waste. For this recipe (and you can do the same for any other recipe using broccoli) I've taken the stems, peeled the tough outer part, then grated it down. The tiny pieces will cook faster, and you won't even realize you're eating them once incorporated into the stir fry. 

Serves 2

• 1/2 lb beef (I used a top round eye steak)
• Beef marinade:
• 1/4 tsp ground pepper
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 tsp canola or olive oil
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 1/2 tbsp coke
• 1 1/4 cup long grain brown rice (2 1/2 cups water)
• Sauce: 



peppers make me :)

• 1/2 cup fresh squeezed orange juice (include some pulp)
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp ground pepper
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp red wine (optional: only if you have an open bottle handy)
• 1 dried Tien Tsin Chinese chili 
• 1 red serrano pepper (red preferred for color, I could only find green at the store)
• 5 cloves garlic
• 1 inch section fresh ginger
• 1/2 small onion
• 2 broccoli crowns
• 1/2 bunch green onion
• 1/3 cup water

Prepare the beef well in advance (preferably a few hours) so it has time to soak and tenderize in the marinade. Slice the beef thinly into 1-inch pieces, taking care to ensure you are slicing against the grain - slicing beef along the grain makes for a tough chew, whereas slicing beef against the grain helps tenderize the meat. Combine all marinade ingredients with beef in an airtight container (ziploc, tupperware, bowl with saran wrap) and set aside in the fridge. 

Cook brown rice in rice cooker if you have one, or on the stove per package instructions. 

Mix all sauce ingredients into a bowl, stirring well to incorporate the cornstarch which tends to lump. Set aside. 

Slice the serrano pepper thinly into coin shapes, keeping the seeds for extra heat. 

Mince the garlic, ginger and Tien Tsin Chinese chili.  

Thinly slice the onion. 

Wash broccoli crowns and cut florets. Peel and grate broccoli stems. 

Wash green onion. Slice 2 inches off the green tops, then another 2 inches. Reserve remaining green onion for other use in airtight container or bag to ensure freshness. 

Heat small amount of olive oil in large non-stick frying pan at high. Once the oil is hot, add marinated beef slices. Separate the beef so each slice touches the pan, stirring quickly as the slices are thin and beef cooks quickly. Remove from pan once most of the beef has turned from red to brown and set aside. 

Using same frying pan, add small amount of olive oil, reduce heat to med-high, then add garlic, ginger, onion and chili and serrano peppers. Stir for 2min until fragrant. Add broccoli (florets and shredded stems) and 1/3 cup of water, cover with lid, and let steam-fry for 3min. 

Add green onions to pan. Give the reserved sauce a good stir (cornstarch will have clumped at the bottom), then add sauce to pan. If it looks too thick, add splashes of water until desired consistency achieved. Add beef slices, mix well, then remove from heat. 

Serve over brown rice. And with a tall glass of water.. since B had spicy sniffles throughout the meal :)