How to Make Easy Broccoli With Garlic Sauce Stir Fry Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Does broccoli need to be cooked before stir-fry? ›

Broccoli does NOT requiring boiling before sautéing or stir-frying IF you implement the steaming method. Trapping hot air in the pan is what helps soften the broccoli so it doesn't just appear cooked on the outside.

Add both bags of frozen vegetables and cook until tender. Don't worry about defrosting them, just add them frozen and let the pan do the work. Once vegetables have softened and thawed, add the tamari or coconut aminos and taste for seasoning.

Broccoli can be eaten raw, but blanching it quickly in boiling water helps give it a more crisp-tender texture and bring out its flavor. Broccoli can also be steamed, sautéed, and roasted. You could even throw long spears on the grill!

Broccoli: Use fresh broccoli for best results, but you can also use frozen broccoli. I recommend decreasing the cooking time by 30 to 60 seconds if using frozen broccoli. Seasonings: These could include melted butter, extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice and/or zest, salt, pepper, garlic, or shredded cheese.

Saute broccoli and onion until half cooked and remove. In same pan cook thin sliced beef until almost cooked. Put the broccoli back in the pan and add mixture of water, corn starch, sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and a little rice vinegar. Mix the water and corn starch before adding the other ingredients.

Chinese restaurants often incorporate garlic, ginger, and soy sauce to add depth and flavor to the broccoli. You can also add a dash of sesame oil or a sprinkle of red pepper flakes for an added kick.

Stir-frying and stir-frying/boiling, the two most popular methods for most homemade dishes in China, cause great losses of chlorophyll, soluble protein, soluble sugar, vitamin C, and glucosinolates, but the steaming method appears the best in retention of the nutrients in cooking broccoli.

Tips for making the perfect stir-fry

Make sure your frozen veggies don't thaw before you cook them. They should go straight from the freezer into a very hot skillet or wok. This will prevent them from getting soggy. Cook your rice or noodles the day before and store it in the refrigerator.

Use high heat: Stir-fry quickly over high heat to cook the vegetables rapidly, preventing them from releasing too much moisture. Cut uniformly: Cut vegetables into uniform pieces to ensure even cooking. Dry thoroughly: Pat the vegetables dry before adding them to the hot pan to remove excess moisture.

The one difference is that the texture of frozen won't be as crisp and, again, that's because it's already partially cooked. Should I thaw frozen broccoli before cooking? You don't have to! But if there's a lot of ice on top rinse under running water for a few seconds.

What do you put on top of broccoli? ›

Then top it with lemon juice, pine nuts and parmesan. The broccoli will come out with a nice tender-crisp texture! Garlic and butter help make broccoli taste irresistible. Simply sautee the broccoli in a pan with just a little butter, some onions and grated garlic and voila!

Blanching is a quick dip in boiling water, followed immediately by cooling. You can also preserve both nutrients and the enzyme needed to form protective isothiocyanates if you steam broccoli for three or four minutes (just until crisp-tender) or microwave for less than one minute.

If you are using small broccoli florets in a stir-fry, there is no need to cook it in water first. I, personally, never “boil” broccoli even if I'm cooking it stems and all. I cut off the long stems, peel them, cut them into 1/2″ thick coins, then bring lightly salted water to a boil.

To prepare vegetables for stir-frying, blanching is the perfect way to jump-start the cooking process, especially for dense vegetables like broccoli or cauliflower (which usually take a while to stir-fry and often get soggy).

Many recipes call for crisper, more dense vegetables to be blanched, especially before stir-frying. There are several reasons for doing this: It helps seal in the color, flavor and nutrients of the vegetables. (Green vegetables turn a wonderful bright green when blanched).

Stir-fry onions first, then add hard vegetables such as carrot and broccoli. Quick-cooking vegetables, such as snow peas, leafy greens and bean sprouts, should be added towards the end of cooking. If using vegies that have a combination of both textures, such as gai laan, add the stems first and the leaves later.