A classic Chinese dish
Recipe #63: broccoli beef

One time, my mother had a party. All of the food was very good except for the broccoli beef. I couldn't resist, so I asked her, "How did you cook this beef? It's very old and tough!" Before she could answer, another guest piped up, "Oh, I'm the one who made it!"

That turned out to be the only dish that was not made by my mother.

Ah, no wonder.

However, broccoli beef isn't all that hard to make, as long as you use the right methods.

The method my mother taught me does not use any sauce, so it's very light, tasty and healthy.

Ingredients

1. 3 oz. flank steak, sliced
2. beef marinade: 1/2 tsp. soy sauce, 1 tsp. cooking wine (sake), 1 tsp. corn starch, 1/2 tsp. cooking oil
3. 2 stalks of broccoli
4. salt to taste
5. 1 Tbsp. cooking oil

Directions

1. Mix the ingredients the marinade and place beef in for a few minutes.
2. Cut broccoli into bite-sized florets.
3. Fill a 4- or 5-qt. pot half full with water and boil. Dip broccoli in for about a minute; drain and set aside.
4. In a saucepan, add cooking oil. When it is hot enough, add beef.
5. When beef is medium-well, add broccoli.
6. Add salt and sautee.
7. Meanwhile, add about 1 tsp. hot water to the remaining marinade and pour into saucepan.
8. Continue sauteing for about half a minute, or until beef is well done.
9. Serve hot.

Tips

1. Be sure to cut the flanks against the grain and put into small bowl; otherwise, the beef will be very hard to chew.
2. Flank steak is best fit for this dish. Some restaurants use regular beef instead of flank steak, and then use baking soda to tenderize the meat. Afterwards, they use sauce to cover the baking soda. However, this causes the beef to lose its original flavor, and it is also less healthy.
3. The broccoli only needs to be boiled for about a minute. This lets it stay green without being overcooked, yet still has a crispy and tender texture.
4. Adding hot water to the marinade lets the dish cook faster, and also improves the taste.

Recipe #58: beef with green beans

We plant green beans every year. Because there is a large harvest every year, we can harvest them as soon as they're tender. These beans are delicious when sauteed, regardless of what other ingredients you use with them. Beef with green beans is the easiest to make, but it tastes extremely good. However, it's hard to find this dish even in restaurants, because it's hard to obtain beans that are so tender. Don't worry if you don't have any tender beans; the below sections contains a few tricks that will improve the texture.

Ingredients

1. 1 lb. green beans, trimmed
2. 3 oz. beef flanks
3. 2 tsp. soy sauce
4. 1 tsp. sesame oil + 1 tsp. oil (for marinating)
5. 1 Tbsp. oil (for stir-frying)
6. 1 tsp. cooking wine
7. pinch of sugar
8. 1 tsp. corn starch
9. salt to taste

Directions

1. Cut beans into halves of thirds, depending on length.
2. Cut the flanks against the grain and put into small bowl.
3. Mix all condiments (except salt) into bowl with beef.
4. If possible, marinate for at least 10 minutes to allow the flavor to go in.
5. Put oil into saucepan; when oil is warm, add beef and stir-fry. When beef is medium well, move beef back to bowl. When oil is still warm, add beans and stir-fry. If the beans are in season but not as tender as you expect, you 1 tsp. hot water along the side of the saucepan; the vapor will make the beans cook faster.
6. Add salt to taste.
7. Add beef back; stir-fry until beef is done and the beans contain the beef flavor.
8. If the dish is too dry, add 1 tsp. hot water to the marinating mixture and pour into saucepan, and stir. Serve hot.

Tips

1. If you like black pepper, you can add it to the marinating mixture.
2. If you are using beans bought during the winter, they will be a bit tough, in which case you can prepare a pot of boiling water. Cook the beans in the water briefly and drain with a strainer; this will make the beans more tender.