Wok stir-fried broccoli with oyster sauce has to be one of my all-time favorite vegetable dishes. I could eat this once a week! If I have been particularly bad and consumed a phenomenal amount of fat-laden dishes in a given period, I try to detox with a lot of veggies, and this is almost always one of the dishes I rely upon to even out the evil with the good. When I worked in New York in the early 1990’s, I used to order Chinese take out at least once a week, and my two white wax-lined cardboard boxes would almost ALWAYS contain shredded szechuan beef and an order of broccoli with oyster sauce…
This is an incredibly easy dish to make, but also incredibly easy to screw up. First rinse and dry a head or two of very fresh and crisp broccoli and cut into bite sized florets. Some folks like to blanch the broccoli before stir-frying, but I don’t. Heat up a large wok, add some vegetable oil and when it is very hot, add the broccoli florets and toss constantly and vigorously, to prevent burning the veggies. Add some oyster sauce and cracked black pepper if you so desire, and when it is all glistening and delicious looking, but still crisp/underdone, take it off the heat and serve hot. DO NOT let this braise. Do not let it sit in the pan over low heat and watch it extrude water and boil in the pan. Limp, wet broccoli is the pits.
I could eat this with a bowl of rice and feel healthy. Or I could add some thinly sliced beef to this dish and have protein and vegetables in one dish. It is great with prawns/shrimp as well in lieu of the beef. Add some chili sauce if you would like some added spiciness. Yum.
32 Responses
MM, your picture and recipe brought back a lot of memories. I thought one always had to saute broccoli with paper-thin slices of beef, garlic and oyster sauce. I used to eat this a lot too when I was a grad student in Manoa, Hawaii. We would often buy take out beef with broccoli in those wax-lined white cartons at our favorite Chinese fastfood restaurant in Ala Moana. Thanks MM, I will try your simple recipe soon.
Ah, MM, ito ang ulam namin ngayon dahil mayroon akong isang malaking broccoli sa ref, hehehe. Basta madaling recipe na kagaya nito, kayang-kaya! Thank you, MM, for this post after all the helpings of pork.
Haven’t had broccoli for some time, I just realized. Maybe I should try this recipe within the remainder of the week…I have been on a pork binge lately. hehe
this is my mother-in-law’s simple recipe. steam the
broccoli florets and dip them with shoyu and
mayonnaise mixture. very simple but
good…
Oooooh, that picture has me drooling. At my desk in the office. Not a good thing!
Why is there no decent Chinese take-away in Makati? Boo.
best with sukiyaki cut beef!
I usually throw in a 2-3 slices of ginger before the broccoli. But not too much so as to overpower.
MM,
I would imagine this being very fragrant with good sesame oil to start with! MMMM!!! Rice please!
broccoli is very good for you :)
one variation would be to add some anchovies (roughly chopped), crisp it up then add the broccoli. oyster sauce may be omitted and instead lightly season with salt. this is a nice simple recipe i picked up from an italian cookbook.
i really like the cashew picture on your main page. i haven’t visited in a while so don’t know how long you’ve had it there. it’s nice! we used to have cashew plants and it’s always fascinated me how the cashew nut grows on the fruit.
mmmm—delicious–i prefer mine with thinly sliced good beef
I like it sauted in sesame oil, oyster sauce, rice wine, and throw in some leeks ginger slices of beef button mushrooms and young corn and sesame seeds…mmmm yummy!
Stir fried or steamed broccoli leaves are tastes good too and pairs well with steamed grouper.
MM…may I just ask….where the stalks are?Did you throw it away? The neck of the broccoli is the best part actually. It is peeled to get the sweet …crunchy ”heart” inside….
hello MM!
i’m your new fan here in Davao, particularly in Digos.. thanks for that simple recipe. i should try that.. more power!
Hi Marketman. This looks good. You might want to try toasting lots of minced garlic in sesame oil. You could then pour the sesame oil and toasted garlic on top of the broccoli, Hap Chan style. By the way, I am so looking forward to your Christmas posts!
Drop broccoli florets in small batches in a small amount of boiling chicken broth or bouillon, a teaspoon or two of peanut oil and freshly ground pepper till crunchy soft. Yummy crunchy soft, either plain or drizzle with oyster sauce and topped with toasted garlic.
Thanks for this post MM. A few years back you had another recipe for broccoli that I’ve been using since, with chilli flakes and a lemon squeeze. Healthy and yummy!
Try broccoli ”bulanglang” style…with lima beans or ”patani” ginger tomatoes, squash flowers and young garlic…and bagoong isda-calamsi dipping sauce…and ”sinaing na tulingan” from Batangas….Masarap!Manyaman!Masiramon!Manamit!yum!
Try broccoli ”bulanglang” style…with lima beans or ”patani” ginger tomatoes, squash flowers and young garlic sprouts, peeled suaje…and bagoong isda-calamsi dipping sauce…and ”sinaing na tulingan” from Batangas….Masarap!Manyaman!Masiramon!Manamit!yum!
I remember when i was still in irvine ca few years ago, i was whisked by a policeman suspecting that im hiding a dupe in my paper bag! They checked my bag only to find styrofoam box with steamed broccoli and asparagus..It was actually a doggybag which i havent finished completely from the chinese resto and planning to continue eating in my pad..thats a hell of broccoli experience, i was checked thoroughly and released after few hours of questions…wow!
el_jefe, thought i was the only one who makes good use of the stalk, being the ever-matipid pinoys that we are, hehe, sayang e! always making sure that we make the most out of something we buy, besides, sarap talaga ng tangkay-tangkay ng broccoli! yum, like sayote!
i also cook this dish but with bell peppers, onions and garlic and whatever sauce i have on hand.
sarap nito. healthy and guilt-free pa! kanin nga! :-)
Sarap ng kain namin ngayon—I did this brocolli recipe at saka ko tiningnan ang iyong escabeche recipe—voila! Escabecheng salmon saka mainit na kanin…whew!
Lorellie…the stalks are actually the best parts of broccoli….sarap nito malutong para ngang sayote…masarap din ang broccoli sa pasta…anchovies, garlic-olive oil and fetuccini pasta!!!sarap!! Haha..matipid? di naman…kinakain talaga ito.. kasama sa kilo ang tangkay so dapat kainin mahal ito hehehhe….hi in calcium ata ang broccoli pero un me kidney problems at may artificial valves at nagtetake in ng warfarin shouldnt eat crucifers like broccoli..lettuce..cabbages etc…kasi mataas ang vitamin K ng mga gulay na ito nakaklapot ng dugo at bawal sa prone sa stroke…
el-jefe, until what part of the broccoli stalk is edible? I also peel the stalk and include it in my stir-fry but I worry that I might be eating the non-edible portion. Siyanga pala, ang facebook account ko ay monina escalada so we can exchange notes about uplb without using MM’s blog bago tayo tuluyang i-block dito. Wala yata akong batch kasi i did my undergrad in up diliman.
Hi po Ms. Moni…sige po gagawa napo ako ng face book…Ms. Moni grabe kayo po pla ay isang KGG o Kagalanggalang…nakita ko po ang inyong blog at pinagpipitaganan kayo sa DevCom…Congrats po…Nga po pla…basta po malambot pa at malutong un stem na binalatan nyo at hindi fibrous ok pa po iyong kainin…try nyo din po ang steams broccoli…tapos lagyan nyo po ng sesame oil ,oyster sauce at fried garlic….napakasarap!!!
el-jefe, thanks. ang rule pala sa broccoli stalks ay basta malambot pa, puedeng balatan, lutuin at kainin. sige, i will try your recipe — steamed broccoli with sesame oil, fried garlic and oyster sauce.
ano ba ang email address mo? hinanap ko sa facebook ang el jefe, ang lumabas ay fidel castro at sandamakmak na el jefe. meron ngang el jefe na nakaposing sa harap ng kotse. hindi siguro ikaw iyon, di gagawa ng ganyan ang taga LB. hahaha. malay din natin.
i like broccoli done as MM describes it, although my favorite method is an even simpler way of preparing broccoli. definitely something i could eat more than once a week. just blanch the bite-sized florets and set aside. then brown as much garlic as you want in a generous helping of olive oil. put a bit of salt. pour the entire thing over the broccoli, and voila. i love the crunchiness of broccoli done like this (the worst way to treat a broccoli is to overcook it, i don’t want to see limp, sickly green looking florets on my plate!), and toasted garlic with it makes it a perfect dish on its own!
I steam the brocolli plus the stems with a little salt, then add pepper and a little butter. Very crunchy and good….I also steam French beans, Sweet Peas, Asparagus, Cauliflower mix it all together plus the brocolli for a steamed chopsuey….have it at least once a week…..
Your standard Chinese take-out order is the same as mine!!! My husband and I always order the same thing – Hunan shredded beef and broccoli. I always wonder if the person taking the order sees our phone number and says, “I know exactly what these people are having …”
Haven’t you heard of MSG from oyster sauce? Quite allergic to it. How do you make oyster sauce from scratch? I am vegetarian.
Guia
nice and easy… way to go MM. :-)
Thank you for posting this recipe!… My american husband, dont eat any kinds of vegetables other than brocolli. As of me, i dont know how to cook brocolli other than steamed it. Can i try it also with teriyaki sauce?… i dont have oyster sauce for now!. thanks again and keep posting!