Broccoli beef is an American Chinese-restaurant classic. Here, we fold that classic into another—stir-fried Chinese noodles in a soy and toasted sesame sauce—and sprinkle it all with chopped toasted cashews. This easy weeknight supper takes a bit of organization (making the sauce, boiling the noodles, and doing the skirt steak and veggie prep), but it all pays off in the speed that the final dish comes together.

  • Yield: 2 to 4 servings
  • Difficulty: Medium
  • Total: 40 mins

Ingredients (16)

For the sauce:

  • 1 1/2 tablespoons light brown sugar
  • 1 large garlic clove, minced
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
  • 2 green onions, thinly sliced
  • 3 tablespoons reduced-sodium tamari or soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon canola oil
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

For the stir-fry:

  • 1/2 pound skirt steak, thinly sliced against the grain
  • 1 heaping cup small broccoli florets
  • 9 ounces fresh Chinese egg noodles (or 8 ounces spaghetti or linguine)
  • Canola oil
  • 1 large carrot, peeled and cut into matchsticks
  • 1 small red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and cut into small slices
  • Sriracha
  • 1/4 cup chopped toasted cashews

Instructions

  1. To make the sauce, in a bowl whisk together the brown sugar, garlic, ginger, green onions, tamari or soy sauce, vinegar, canola oil, and sesame oil until well combined and the sugar has mostly dissolved. Divide into 2 bowls. Add the sliced steak to 1 bowl of sauce. Set aside to marinate for 30 minutes.
  2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the broccoli to the boiling water and cook until crisp-tender. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain in a colander. Add the noodles to the boiling water and cook until al dente, according to the package directions. Drain.
  3. Meanwhile, in a wok or large frying pan, warm a glug of canola oil until it shimmers. Remove the steak from the marinade and add it to the pan. (Discard the marinade.) Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the carrots and bell pepper and sauté, stirring, until just tender. Add the drained pasta to the pan along with the second bowl of sauce and the reserved broccoli. Add Sriracha to taste. Stir-fry until warmed through and well combined (I like to use tongs to get the noodles really well coated), about 2 minutes. Divide between bowls, sprinkle with the cashews, and serve.

Photo by Chris Rochelle