Authentic Beef and Broccoli (Low Carb)

Beef and Broccoli is one of our favorite oriental dishes.
It can easily be made low carb. Here's how.

Before I started Atkins in January of 2007, my husband and I ate a lot of Chinese and Mexican Food.

After going low carb, I spent a long time working out how to de-carb our favorite dishes, so I could put them back into our diet. One of our favorite oriental recipes is Beef and Broccoli.

Although, hubby didn't need to go low carb, he ate whatever I cooked, so my recipes always serve 2 to 4. The winter I de-carbed this recipe, we were given almost a whole deer, so I had lots of meat to practice with.

The following recipe is the closest I've been able to come, so far, to an authentic keto-friendly Beef and Broccoli Recipe, and still stay within a low-carb protocol.

How I Thickened This Low-Carb Oriental Sauce

I took a few liberties with this recipe.

I actually used cornstarch to thicken the low-carb oriental sauce. It was a liberty I took when doing the weight-loss phase of Atkins, along with many others. I had no trouble losing over 100 pounds using cornstarch in my recipes.

You can certainly leave out the one teaspoon of cornstarch that I used in the sauce, if you want to. It adds 1/2 carb to each serving and provides that authentic slightly starchy taste you can't get in any other way.

The sauce will also be thinner without cornstarch.

Alternatively, you can substitute a bit of guar gum or xanthum gum, about 1/8 teaspoon, if you'd rather do it that way. Just leave out the Thick-it-Up.

Thick-it-up Low Carb Thickener

When I first created this recipe, the low-carb community was using products called Not-Sugar and Not-Starch. It worked amazingly well, but they are no longer available. The small low-carb company that created them went out of business several years ago.

I tried using Not-Sugar without the teaspoon of cornstarch in the following Beef and Broccoli recipe, but it produced a sauce that was missing that slightly starchy taste so familiar to Chinese cooking.

Dixie Diner sells a low-carb thickener through Amazon called Thick-it-up.

It uses a variety of no-carb thickeners, such as:

• locust bean
• guar gum
• acacia
• and Xanthan gum

Although, I have never tried this particular thickener myself, these are the same gums and gels that Not-Sugar and Not-Starch used to have, so I'm pretty confident that it's close to the same thing.

The only caution is that I don't really know how much to tell you to use. I used to use a tablespoon of Not-Sugar, but you might want to start with 1 teaspoon of the new product, and then add more as needed, until you see how much it will take.

Baking Soda is Mandatory

The baking soda in the marinade is mandatory.

Baking soda gives the meat that Chinese Restaurant texture and softness. This step is why I'm calling the recipe authentic.

Baking soda also works very well in other types of meat marinades to help tenderize lean or tougher cuts. I use it in Fajitas and other burrito fillings a lot, allowing the meat to sit all afternoon before stir-frying it up with the vegetables.

I sometimes just throw it in with other meat marinade ingredients if I'm cooking chops or steaks.

To shave meat, thinly slice with a very sharp knife, the thinner the better, when the beef is still partially frozen.

Authentic Beef and Broccoli

Marinade Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon Splenda or other sweetener
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch or Thick-it-up
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 pound shaved beef or pork

Combine the marinade ingredients in a small bowl then pour over the shaved meat and stir well. The mixture is going to foam up quite a bit because of the baking soda - vinegar.

 To shave meat, you slice it when it is still mostly frozen with a serrated knife as thinly as you can manage. Then allow it to marinate for a couple of hours.

If you are on a higher fat diet, you can add a tbsp or two of peanut oil at this point, and marinate it for another couple of hours.

If you are on a lower fat diet, just skip the oil and allow the meat to marinate for at least four hours total.

As far as taste is concerned, we really couldn't tell the difference between the high-fat and low-fat versions.

Veggie Preparation:

• 3 cups broccoli cut up into flowerettes
• 1/2 onion cut into slices
• 1/2 teaspoon Splenda or other sweetener
• 1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt
• 1/2 cup water

In a cast iron skillet or wok, heat 1 tbsp peanut oil (or spray with non-stick spray if you're following a lower-fat diet) until very hot.

Add broccoli and onion, and stir for a couple of minutes to coat well. Sprinkle with Splenda and Seasoning salt.

The Splenda helps the broccoli retain its color, so I'm not sure if a liquid sweetener would do the same thing, or not. I haven't tried that yet.

Add water. Cover and steam until crisp-tender, stirring occasionally.

Remove the vegetables to a platter and spread them out so they are in a single layer. This will help keep the broccoli from overcooking and pretty essential.

Sweet-and-Sour Sauce Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoon oyster sauce or gluten-free oyster sauce
• 2 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce or gluten-free tamari
• 1 teaspoon Splenda or other sweetener
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon Thick-it-up
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1/2 cup water

Combine sauce ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then lower heat to medium and allow to simmer, stirring constantly, until desired thickness is reached.

When I did this using Not-Sugar, I was able to just toss it in with the other ingredients. Please, follow the directions on the package. It might work better sprinkled in. Lower heat to very low to keep warm.

• 1/2 tbsp minced garlic
• 1/2 tbsp minced fresh ginger

In a cast iron skillet or wok, heat another tbsp peanut oil. (You can use non-stick spray on this part too, but I didn't, because I wanted the oil flavor to get into the meat at this point). Add garlic and ginger and allow to cook for a minute or two, stirring them around the pan.

Add meat with marinade and stir fry until well done. Return broccoli and onion mix to the pan, then top it all with the warm sauce and stir to mix and coat well. Serve immediately.

This makes 3 hearty servings: 12.5 full carbs each with 4 grams of fiber, 8.5 net carbs.