Food: Simple Stir-Fry (and not-so-easy rice)

On Friday I decided to make a recipe out of this month's Bon Appetit (May 2009): Stir-fried Beef, Broccoli and Yams. It turned out to be a very easy dish (minus our slight disaster with the short-grain brown rice) and was a nice combination of sweet, crunchy and spicy. Some slight modifications I made to the recipe included throwing in some water chestnuts and doubling the amount of red pepper (since we like things a little more spicy). I think the stir-fry would have also been good with peanuts instead of the water chestnuts, so I'll have to try that next time. The sweet potatoes in the sauce reminded us both of candied yams...so they definitely needed the beef, broccoli and heat to balance out the sweetness.

Stir-Fried Beef, Broccoli, and Yams

INGREDIENTS

• 1/4 cup water
• 3 tablespoons (packed) golden brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons oyster sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper (or a little more if you want some heat)
• 1 1-pound flank steak, cut in half lengthwise, then crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices
• 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 1/2 tablespoons Asian sesame oil, divided
• 4 cups broccoli florets (about 8 ounces)
• 1 8-ounce yam (red-skinned sweet potato), peeled, cut in half lengthwise, then crosswise into 1/3-inch-thick slices (I used a regular sweet potato and it turned out fine)
• 2 teaspoons chopped peeled fresh ginger

PREPARATION

• Stir first 4 ingredients in small bowl until sugar dissolves. Set sauce aside. Place beef in large bowl; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add cornstarch and toss to coat.
• Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons oil in large wok over high heat. beef mixture; stir-fry until no longer pink outside, about 3 minutes.
• Transfer beef mixture to medium bowl. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in same skillet. Add broccoli, yam, and ginger. Toss to coat; sprinkle with salt and pepper. sauce.
• Cover, reduce heat to medium-high, and cook until vegetables are just tender, about 5
  minutes. Add beef mixture. Toss until sauce coats beef, about 1 minute. Serve.