Written by Jared Kent
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In this delightful recipe, we take the simple blanched broccoli and turn it into a delicious Sweet N Spicy stir-fry over brown rice! Garlic, onions, sesame, and ginger come along for the ride to add some more great flavours to the broccoli while healthy, filling brown rice will leave you feeling satisfied.
The sauce for this dish is a homemade sweet chili sauce that will soon become one of your favourite condiments! Its got some of everything there's a little sweetness from the sugar, a little heat from the chili, some sour from the vinegar, soy sauce lends a touch of saltiness, and sesame oil gives it a welcoming nuttiness.
This sauce is terrific for broccoli but could also work very well with cauliflower, peas, carrots, water chestnuts, and many other vegetables. Or, try it on top of fried rice or as a dipping sauce for egg rolls. Feel free to kick up or tone down the heat according to your liking.
Stir-Frying
This recipe calls for stir-frying the broccoli, one of the best ways to quickly make delicious vegetable dishes. Stir-frying is all about two things: heat and speed.
When stir-frying, you want to cook very quickly so the vegetables don't overcook and become mushy.
So, you need to cook with high heat.
This means heating up the pan over high heat for a full minute before adding any oil, then add the oil and wait another minute before starting to cook.
The oil should be shimmering and just starting to smoke before you add any ingredients.
Once you add the ingredients, make sure you stir or shake the pan constantly to prevent them from burning. In this particular recipe, the vegetables should take just under five minutes to cook.
Sweet N Spicy Broccoli Over Brown Rice
Sweet. Spicy. Healthy. Simple. What's not to love? This filling dish is fast to prepare and delicious to eat. Once you try it, you'll put this homemade chili sauce on everything.
Ingredients
Sweet N Spicy Sauce
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 tbsp water
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 tsp sriracha sauce
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp cornstarch (, dissolved in 1 tablespoon cold water)
- 1 tsp sesame oil
Broccoli
- 1 large head broccoli (, cut into medium-sized florets (about 1 pounds/680 grams))
- 2 tbsp canola or vegetable oil
- 1 large white onion (, thinly sliced)
- 4 cloves garlic (, thinly sliced)
- 1 1/2 tbsp fresh ginger (, grated)
- sweet n' spicy sauce
- 1 cup dry brown rice (, cooked according to the instructions on the package)
- 2 tbsp sesame seeds (, lightly toasted)
Directions
Sweet N Spicy Sauce
- Remove from the heat and add the sesame oil. Set aside for later use.
Broccoli
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a rapid boil. Prepare a large bowl of ice water with a colander inside of it.
- Add the broccoli to the boiling water and cook for two minutes. Remove from the pot and plunge directly into the ice water. Keep in the ice water for two minutes. Remove from the ice water and allow to dry.
- Heat a wok or large pan with sloping sides over high heat. Add the oil and allow to heat, it should be shimmering and almost smoking.
- Add the onions and garlic and cook on high heat for two minutes, stirring constantly to ensure the vegetables don't burn.
- Add the broccoli and ginger and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
- Add the sauce and stir, once the sauce comes to a boil, remove from the heat.
- Serve the broccoli immediately over brown rice, garnish with toasted sesame seeds.
Notes
Substitutions
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar: 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar or 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
- 2 teaspoons sriracha sauce: 2 teaspoons sambal paste or teaspoons of your favorite hot sauce (Franks, Texas Pete, etc.)
- 1 tablespoons grated fresh ginger: 1 teaspoons dried ginger
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil: two teaspoons sesame seeds
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