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
I’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
Delicious. Thank you
Josh says
I love spicy food, worth the suffering
Hilywatson says
Anything Spicy is always my first choice and talking about broccoli is my alltime favorite.
Anyway thanks a lot for this spicy recipe.
Tom says
I like anything spicy, especially asian food. I think I will double up on the garlic with this recipe. good one!
Matthew says
Made 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
We’re part of the Roasted Broccoli Convert Club!
Jazmin says
Love this food!!I want to try cooking this too…
Jezziel says
I love spicy ood but I am not sure if this will be loved by my family…
CasandraHenrich says
I actually love broccolli and I hope this can really help me…Great job!!
Alexa Taylor says
I 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
Thank 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
Absolutely delicious! I just made your spicy Asian broccoli and it is so easy, yet soooooo good! Thank you!
Maggie says
WOW! 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
This 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
A 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
That’s what I like to hear!
Theliz says
This was great! Had it with the ginger garlic sticky pork and it will be a regular menu item at our home.
Rebecca says
I’m glad you enjoy it. It remains a favourite here!
Shannon says
I 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
I’m so glad you love it!
Alexandra Bishop says
OMG. 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
That’s great! I hoped you loved it as much as you thought you would!
beejay says
I’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
This 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
LOL!!! Found this site throught Pioneer Woman and that’s the exact same items I made tonight!!