Beef and broccoli

Beef and broccoli, also sometimes called broccoli beef, is a Westernised Chinese dish.

Beef and broccoli

Type	Stir-fry
Course	Main course
Region or state	United States of America
Associated cuisine	American Chinese cuisine
Main ingredients	Beef, broccoli
Media: Beef and broccoli

Origins

Beef and broccoli was likely developed in the diaspora of Chinese immigrants in 19th century America.^[1] It became an established feature of American Chinese restaurants during the 1920s.^[2] By the 1950s, it had become ubiquitous and it is one of the most popular American Chinese dishes in the 21st century.^[3] It is based on a Chinese dish that used gai lan but this was replaced with broccoli,^[4][5] a vegetable which was originally popularized in the United States by Italian immigrants.^[6]

Dish of beef and broccoli

Preparation

The dish is prepared by stir-frying sliced steak and broccoli florets with oyster or soy sauce and aromatics such as garlic and ginger. Sugar or honey may be used to sweeten the sauce.^[7] Corn starch is commonly used to tenderize the beef and thicken the sauce.^[8][9]