Beef and broccoli

The diaspora of Chinese immigrants in 19th-century America likely developed beef and broccoli.^[1] It became an established feature of American Chinese restaurants during the 1920s.^[2] By the 1950s, it had become ubiquitous and it is now one of the most popular American Chinese dishes in the 21st century.^[3] It is based on a Chinese dish that used gai lan, which was replaced with broccoli,^[4][5] a vegetable initially popularized in the United States by Italian immigrants.^[6]

The dish is prepared by stir-frying sliced steak and broccoli florets with oyster or soy sauce, and aromatics such as garlic and ginger. Sugar or honey may be used to sweeten the sauce.^[7] Corn starch is commonly used to tenderize the beef and thicken the sauce.^[8][9]