(upbeat guitar music)
Sawaddee Ka.
- Welcome to Hot Thai Kitchen.
Today, I am making a beef and broccoli stir-fry,
which you might hear that and go,
"Wait a minute, isn't that like a Chinese dish?"
And the truth is, there are many, many overlaps
between Thai and Chinese cuisine,
and this is definitely a dish
Thai people make at home often.
In Thai, we call it Neua Pad Broccoli.
So neua is beef, pad means to stir-fry,
and broccoli means broccoli.
So it's a very simple dish, but because it's simple,
it's actually quite tricky to make it really well.
So I wanted to share with you today
my tips and my tricks to make
this super simple dish super delicious.
So let's get started.
So the choice of beef is very important.
You wanna go with something tender for this.
I've got here some ribeye, good-quality ribeye.
It is expensive, so if you wanna go with something
a little cheaper, you can go with sirloin tip or flank.
I've tried both of those, and it works well,
but you've got to make sure you don't overcook those,
'cause they become tough if overcooked.
With a ribeye, it's a little more forgiving,
even if it's a little too long in the pan, you know?
Now, what I do with my steak is
I cut the steak into chunks, then I flip it sideways,
and then I slice my pieces,
because that is going against the grain.
It ensures you've got the shortest muscle fiber.
It'll be the most tender.
The grains are gonna run differently
on every piece of steak,
so make sure, just pay attention,
take a look, and make sure you're cutting it short.
Okay, marinade.
Super simple marinade, well, not really,
I've got like five things,
but I've got some oyster sauce going in here.
I've also got some soy sauce going in.
Some white pepper for a little subtle heat.
This is not a spicy dish, there's no chilis in it,
so a little pepper-iness always helps.
I'm going to add one egg white,
and this is very common in Asian cuisine,
to marinade meat with egg white.
What the egg white does is it sort of creates
a bit of a shield and keeps the meat juicy,
it gives a nice texture, a nice mouthfeel,
but not the egg white alone,
you also wanna add some cornstarch.
There you go.
And the cornstarch and the egg white together,
that combination is called velveting.
It's gonna be your shield against dry meat.
And that's it!
That is all there is to the beef marinade,
so I always wanna do this first
before I start prepping other things,
so that it has time to sit and absorb all that marinade.
The broccoli.
The only tip I have for you
is the way you cut the broccoli.
So as you see, I've got here broccoli
where I've cut it along its natural separations,
but now I wanna make sure
I actually cut it down this way, okay?
What I'm looking for is a flat surface,
and that's the surface area
that's gonna get seared and charred,
create some browning, that's how we develop flavor.
You know how roasted broccoli
is better than steamed broccoli?
Yeah, this is exactly what we're trying to do.
These are still a little big.
I also find, too, that a lot of times
when people make broccoli stir-fry,
the florets are huge, right?
Like, it's a bite-size thing.
You wanna make sure you cut it down
so you can have a piece of broccoli
and a piece of beef without overstuffing your mouth
or without having to, like,
cut it with a knife and a fork, right?
So the sauce, as per usual,
I'm gonna mix everything ahead of time,
so we're not running around trying
to get five things while the wok is going, okay?
So I've got some oyster sauce here,
that's our main seasoning.
To this, I'm gonna add some Golden Mountain Sauce,
which you can just use soy sauce instead,
I'm just adding Golden Mountain 'cause it's my preference,
and if you ever wonder about my different sauces,
I do have a video about that.
I'll put the link right up here
and also in the description below.
Now, fish sauce, of course.
Hey, it's me you're talking about.
I'm also gonna add some water
to thin it out a little bit because
I wanna add some sugar,
and the sugar will just have an easier time dissolving,
and you don't want this to be a sweet stir-fry,
but the sugar will help balance out the saltiness.
Some black pepper.
Woo!
Black pepper and beef always go well together, right?
I am going to actually add my garlic in the sauce here,
and I've chopped it pretty fine,
finer than I normally do for my stir-fry,
and that is because I'm actually not
gonna have time to saute the garlic in the oil in the wok,
'cause I'm gonna spend time searing the beef,
and once the beef is seared,
you gotta move quickly, you don't wanna overcook it,
so I find that making sure you finely chop your garlic
and putting it in the sauce,
that just works out better, okay?
And that's it!
Time to cook.
All right.
I'm gonna start out by searing the broccoli.
Now, you can do this in your wok,
but if you've got a rounded-bottom wok,
I recommend doing it in a flat skillet instead,
just so you can, you know,
maximize the surface area of your broccoli.
I'll probably have to do mine in a couple of batches.
So you wanna get this oil really, really hot,
which is not a problem with this inferno of a burner.
(broccoli sizzling)
There you go.
And you just put one down, give it a test,
and if it starts to sizzle like that,
then it's ready to go.
And you wanna flip the broccoli
so that your cut surface is facing the oil, the pan.
And if you've got a nice sear on one side, like that guy,
you just wanna, I just like to give
the whole thing a flip, and it's faster.
Woo, look at that, all that browning, it's flavor!
And then I try to reposition them
so that the brown side is up this time.
That's it, I do not wanna overcook that.
I'm just turning that off.
Oh, yes.
So at this point, they're just partially cooked.
They still need some time in the wok with the sauce,
so you don't want this to be mushy at the end.
Okay?
All right, I got a second batch to do.
Okay, now we're gonna finish everything,
starting with the beef.
So it's the same wok, obviously,
and I'm just gonna add more oil.
Make sure you've got enough to coat the bottom.
Okay.
Again, another key to making this dish really good
is making sure you've got a good sear on the beef,
good sear on the broccoli,
then you're maximizing your flavor.
And I'm just gonna do it all in one batch.
Spread everything out, give it some time.
And you don't have to get absolutely
every single piece charred,
or you're just gonna be here so long.
Just most of it, you know,
get some browning on some of them.
I'm gonna give the whole thing a toss.
Woo!
See?
Very nice.
Now, I'm not gonna sit here and let the other side sear,
'cause it's gonna overcook by the time that happens.
We're gonna, we gotta move fast.
So the broccoli goes in.
And the sauce.
Woo!
And now,
just give it a toss
until the beef is cooked.
If it looks a little dry, you can add a splash of water.
And once all the beef looks done,
you're good to go, turn it off,
and get your rice ready.
So hungry.
So hungry!
Look at all this nice charring on the broccoli
and on the beef, see, like, it's the little things,
you guys, it's the little things that make this delicious.
And then there's sauce pooling at the bottom.
I wanna make sure I get some of that.
(upbeat music)
Ah, just simple home cooking aroma.
(upbeat music)
Mm.
(groaning in pleasure)
Ah, this is so delicious,
and I swear it's not because I'm starving right now.
This is so good.
The amount of flavor that comes out
of just two simple ingredients is incredible,
and it's in all the details.
It's making sure the broccoli is still crunchy at the end,
it's making sure it's charred,
that the beef and the broccoli, you know,
we've all had the flavor of oven-roasted broccoli
and it's charred around the edges.
We know that that has transformed this vegetable
to something so, so delicious.
So I hope you give this a try.
The recipe, as always, will be on HotThaiKitchen.com.
When you make it, send me a photo on Facebook,
Twitter, or Instagram, and if you haven't
subscribed to the show, time to do it right now.
And make sure you click the little bell icon
to make sure you get notification
for when I post a new episode.
And if you love the show, you wanna support us,
check us out on Patreon up at the link right below,
and I will see you next time for
your next delicious Thai meal.
And by that time, and if you're too anal about it,
is it okay to say anal?
(laughing)
You don't have to be a butt about it.
(man laughing)