Beef and Broccoli · Daddy Lau

Cut the 12 oz of beef against the grain — and resist the urge to slice it thin.

💡 Against the grain shortens the muscle fibres so they give way when you bite. The Laus specifically warn against thin slices: with the baking soda treatment coming, paper-thin beef turns to mush rather than staying tender.

Put the beef in a bowl of water and massage it with your hands to draw the blood out, then strain it well.

💡 This washing step is standard in Cantonese kitchens and skipping it is why home stir-fries can taste faintly livery. Strain it properly though — wet beef will not take the marinade.

Mix the marinade: 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tbsp oyster sauce, 1 tbsp light soy sauce, 2 tbsp water, 1 tbsp cornstarch, 0.25 tsp white pepper, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tbsp cooking wine and 1 tbsp cooking oil.

Add the beef to the marinade and massage it in thoroughly until every piece is coated. Let it sit for 30 minutes.

💡 Thirty minutes is the whole prep time, and it is not padding: the baking soda needs it to raise the surface pH and stop the proteins from seizing, while the cornstarch and 2 tbsp of water form the coat that keeps the juices in.

While it marinates, cut the broccoli into bite-size pieces, the carrot into slivers, the ginger into small cubes, the scallions on the diagonal, and mince the garlic.

Mix the sauce in a separate bowl: 1 tbsp oyster sauce, 1 tsp light soy sauce, 1 tsp dark soy sauce, 1 tbsp water, 1 tbsp cooking wine, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp cornstarch and 0.25 tsp white pepper.

💡 Note how close this looks to the marinade and how different it acts. The dark soy is only here, for colour, and the water is halved — this is a sauce that must cling, not soak in.

Bring a pot of water to a boil with a splash of oil and a pinch of salt, then boil the broccoli for about 2 minutes, until it turns bright green. Drain it.

💡 The oil in the water is not a mistake — it coats the florets and keeps them glossy. Two minutes is a hard stop: broccoli that goes dull olive in the pot will never come back.

Get the wok as hot as your stove will go and add the 2 tbsp of cooking oil. Lay the beef in and cook it for 30–60 seconds per side, until it is mostly browned. Take it back out.

💡 'Mostly brown' is the target, not 'cooked through'. The beef comes back into the wok later and finishes there — take it all the way now and it will be grey and tight by the time it is served.

In the same wok, fry the garlic and ginger for 20–30 seconds.

Add the scallions and carrots and go another 20–30 seconds.

Add the blanched broccoli and stir-fry for 30–40 seconds.

Return the beef to the wok and cook everything together for 30–45 seconds.

Pour in the sauce and keep everything moving constantly for 1 minute, until it thickens and coats. Finish with the 1 tsp of sesame oil, taste, adjust if it needs it, and plate.

💡 Constantly is the operative word — there is cornstarch in that sauce and it will glue itself to the bottom of the wok the moment you stop. The sesame oil goes in off the heat's peak, because heat destroys its aroma.