Beef and broccoliBeef and broccoli, sometimes called broccoli beef, is a Westernised Chinese dish.OriginsThe diaspora of Chinese immigrants in 19th-century America likely developed beef and broccoli. It became an established feature of American Chinese restaurants during the 1920s. By the 1950s, it had become ubiquitous and one of the most popular American Chinese dishes in the 21st century. It is based on a Chinese dish that used gai lan, which was replaced with broccoli, a vegetable initially popularized in the United States by Italian immigrants.PreparationThe dish is prepared by stir-frying sliced steak, broccoli florets with oyster or soy sauce, and aromatics such as garlic and ginger. Sugar or honey may be used to sweeten the sauce. Corn starch is commonly used to tenderize the beef and thicken the sauce.