When it comes to dining at home, there’s a line between take out and home made. Often when it comes to Thai recipes eating out or getting delivery is the only way to ensure that you’re getting the best flavor. But, with a simple trick you can make a wonderful Thai sweet chili beef and broccoli dish without right in your own kitchen.
The key to getting the most delicious Thai flavor at home is to get the sauce just right. The sauce part of this recipe calls for only a few ingredients and yet it comes out as a complex, bright, and tasty mixture. 2 things that really add to the recipe are rice vinegar and minced ginger. I used fresh ginger root for this recipe, but you can also use pre-made paste if you’re short on time.
Then the star of the show is the sweet chili sauce. This sauce is sold at most supermarkets these days, but in some areas you may have to go to an international market to get the real deal. After the popularity of the Thai Mae Ploy brand took off, there are now many imitations of this classic sauce on the market.
However, in my experience these other brands of sauce often contain more preservatives than the name brand. Plus, they don’t have quite the same depth of flavor. If you must use another brand then the recipe will still work, but the sauce imported from Thailand is truly the best.
The sauce also calls for some Sriracha, but you can use hot sauce, chili paste, or leave it out altogether for a mild heat level.
For the other ingredients you’ve got steak, red onions, and fresh broccoli. This recipe as is will make 4 generous servings. But, by using some extra broccoli you could extend this recipe to feed 6 quite easily.
It’s match made in heaven since the sweet, mildly spicy sauce perfectly offsets the rich beef and the brightness of the vegetables and the ginger. Serve this over rice for a meal so aromatic and so flavorful that you might even enjoy it more than takeout.
Thai Sweet Chili Beef and Broccoli
Allergens: Soy
Diet: Gluten-Free
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup long-grain white rice
- 1 large or 2 small heads broccoli with stems removed
- 1 tablespoon butter, divided
- 1 (16 oz) NY sirloin (or preferred) steak
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 teaspoons minced, fresh ginger
- 2 teaspoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons rice vinegar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 5 tablespoons Mae Ploy or other sweet Thai chili sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon Sriracha sauce or hot sauce (or more to taste)
- 2 tablespoons peanut oil or canola oil, divided
- 1 small red onion, thinly sliced
Preparation
- Set rice to cook according to package directions. Season both sides of steak with salt and pepper. Melt half butter over medium-high heat in cast iron or stainless skillet. Add steak and cook for 3-5 minutes on each side to desired doneness (adding remaining butter for second side). Cook until meat reaches an internal temperature of 145˚F.
- Remove steak to cutting board. Cover with foil and allow to cool for 10 minutes before slicing into short strips. Set broccoli in a steamer basket in a pot of boiling water. Cook for a few minutes or until florets turn bright green. Drain water and set aside.
- While steak is cooling add half the oil to the steak pan along with the garlic, ginger, soy sauce, rice vinegar and cornstarch. Heat to medium high, adding in steak and broccoli after sauce begins to bubble. Stir in Mae Ploy and Sriracha and cook until sauce thickens. If sauce seems too thick at any point add a teaspoon or 2 of water to thin.
- Remove beef, broccoli, and sauce and then add remaining oil to pan. Cook onion until it begins to carmelize, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat. Layer rice, beef and broccoli, and onion in bowls over rice. Serve immediately.
Recipe adapted from Eating Well.