Spicy Asian Broccoli: Long spears of broccoli are tossed with Chinese chile-garlic sauce, minced fresh garlic, sesame oil, a bit of raw sugar and this and that then roasted until crisp-tender. This will beat every white cardboard takeout container of Chinese you can get anywhere without exception.
If you’ve been reading me for a while, you know about my fixation, er, obsession, um, desperate love for Asian food. You may even have been here long enough to read my sob story about my favourite restaurant ever of all time for eternity Amen closing its doors so the proprietor could retire*. If so, you might even get why -after all those years of getting it nearly every time I ate out- I no longer eat Chinese food in restaurants.
It is, in part, because nothing I have ordered compares in any positive way to the garlic broccoli that Kam Wah served: crisp tender, garlicky, spicy, and no sauce in sight, it was perfect by itself but it also made everything else served with it just that much better. In a bid to satisfy my increasing need for both good spicy garlic broccoli and hermit-like living, I decided to make it happen at home.
I was going to be the Lay-T who was choppin’ brocco-lay! This might be a good time to mention another one of my obsessions. I love Dana Carvey. There. I said it. Any other fans out there?
Holy success, Church Lady! It turned out to be a much simpler process than I ever thought to make the ultimate Chinese style spicy broccoli. The key, surprisingly, was to roast it. Who knew?
The advantages of using roasting as a method are many, from not having to tend a wok constantly while stirring to the fact that you can make as massive an amount as you can fit in your oven at once. Believe me when I tell you that making vast quantities of this broccoli is what you want to do because as soon as those pans are out of the oven you are going to start snitching in earnest.
A spear here, two there, a fistful now… you’re going to eat through broccoli faster than you ever thought possible. Between sneaking bites and the plate full I had at dinner, I ate an entire pan of this by myself.
One piece of advice… be sure to leave nice long pieces of stem attached to your broccoli florets. Not only is it prettier, it’s just a shame to lose all that great broccoli to trimming.
As long as you keep the stem pieces thin, it will cook through at the same rate as the florets themselves. It’s awfully nice to have gorgeous food that’s frugal, too, isn’t it?
Spicy Asian Broccoli
Ingredients
- 4 broccoli crowns
- 2 ½ tablespoons canola oil
- 2 tablespoons Chinese chile-garlic sauce or Sambal Oelek
- 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
- 2 teaspoons raw sugar or light brown sugar
- 2-3 cloves garlic peeled and minced
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Lightly spray a large, rimmed baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray (or use a stoneware pan without spray.) Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, stir together the canola oil, chile-garlic sauce, sesame oil, raw sugar and minced garlic until even.
- Slice the broccoli crowns into long spears, keeping as much of the stem area intact as possible. Do not cut the spears too small or they’ll burn instead of cooking to the desired crisp tender stage. Add all of the broccoli spears to the mixing bowl with the oil mixture and toss until everything is evenly coated. Transfer to the prepared pan, arranging the spears so they are in a single layer and sprinkle with salt to taste.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until there are darkened, black, wilted edges on the cut areas and florets of the broccoli. Remove from the oven and serve immediately with hot, cooked rice or as an accompaniment to a stir fried meats or tofu.
Jeff @ Cheese-Burger.net says
December 28, 2011 at 7:54 amI’m not much of a fan of spicy food but I’m very curious about this spicy broccoli. Very simple yet it has a strong flavor.
Yvonne says
December 29, 2011 at 11:40 amDelicious. Thank you
Josh says
January 1, 2012 at 5:19 amI love spicy food, worth the suffering
Hilywatson says
January 4, 2012 at 4:07 amAnything Spicy is always my first choice and talking about broccoli is my alltime favorite.
Anyway thanks a lot for this spicy recipe.
Tom says
January 6, 2012 at 4:33 pmI like anything spicy, especially asian food. I think I will double up on the garlic with this recipe. good one!
Matthew says
January 9, 2012 at 12:38 amMade this, but altered the recipe a little as the young ones aren’t so into spicy yet. We ate at least twice the broccoli as usual, you weren’t kidding! Way better than steamed!
Rebecca says
February 2, 2012 at 2:16 pmWe’re part of the Roasted Broccoli Convert Club!
Jazmin says
January 18, 2012 at 2:50 amLove this food!!I want to try cooking this too…
Jezziel says
January 19, 2012 at 4:09 amI love spicy ood but I am not sure if this will be loved by my family…
CasandraHenrich says
January 23, 2012 at 8:29 amI actually love broccolli and I hope this can really help me…Great job!!
Alexa Taylor says
February 13, 2012 at 5:25 pmI like cooking Asian fodd myself and broccli isone of my favorite vegetable ,so thank you very much for the recipe. and hello to Spicy Asian Broccoli.
Tammy says
June 6, 2012 at 12:51 amThank you for such and easy and healthy side dish! My clan really loved it. OH!!!!!!!! Loved the Honey Seasame Chicken too!! 🙂 Delish.. Although I did use Breast instead it was great! Nice change to the menu
Chocolate Lady says
January 14, 2013 at 11:20 pmAbsolutely delicious! I just made your spicy Asian broccoli and it is so easy, yet soooooo good! Thank you!
Maggie says
February 6, 2013 at 10:04 pmWOW! I ate and ate and ate! This was wonderful. Spicy but not too much so. Crunchy and delicious. A definite keeper. Thank you!
Mom24_4evermom says
November 19, 2014 at 5:03 pmThis was amazing. I cut the chile-garlic sauce just a bit and increased the brown sugar slightly. (Broccoli and brown sugar, who knew?) Super, super good. My 12 year old could not get enough.
dena says
April 8, 2017 at 9:36 pmA big hit with everyone! My grown son couldn’t wait for it to be brought to the table and started it at the stove!
Rebecca says
April 10, 2017 at 9:44 amThat’s what I like to hear!
Theliz says
May 2, 2017 at 7:10 pmThis was great! Had it with the ginger garlic sticky pork and it will be a regular menu item at our home.
Rebecca says
May 3, 2017 at 9:18 amI’m glad you enjoy it. It remains a favourite here!
Shannon says
July 18, 2017 at 3:31 pmI am a broccoli lover and this is THE BEST broccoli I have ever had. I plan on making it without chile-garlic sauce so my hubby can enjoy it as well. Thank you for sharing a truly amazing (and amazingly easy) dish.
Rebecca says
July 21, 2017 at 10:25 amI’m so glad you love it!
Alexandra Bishop says
April 13, 2018 at 6:34 pmOMG. This sounds so fabulous that I was wiggling in my seat to get downstairs and start making it- BARELY finished reading the post. YUM!
Rebecca says
April 15, 2018 at 7:23 pmThat’s great! I hoped you loved it as much as you thought you would!
beejay says
May 6, 2018 at 4:56 pmI’ve been trying to cook up extra veg that I can use during the week in pocket sandwiches or grain/pasta salads, and this sounds like a perfect fit. I never had this in a restaurant, but your recreation sounds divine. Thanks so much!
Nina Jacobs says
May 9, 2018 at 6:38 pmThis was FANTASTIC! I didn’t have the spicy chili sauce so I used the sweet one and omitted salt. This is definitely going into my rotation. I had this as a side with homemade pork fried rice (using up leftover cooked pork loin).
Tammy says
June 6, 2012 at 12:59 amLOL!!! Found this site throught Pioneer Woman and that’s the exact same items I made tonight!!