Sauté of Broccoli with Sesame Oil and Candied Ginger

This dish is a pretty jade green color flecked with gold and velvety black and white. The flavors seem to appeal to everyone and the dish tends to disappear rapidly. The key to this recipe is restraint; use a light hand when blanching the broccoli, adding the sesame oil, as well as the candied ginger. Prep for this dish could be done ahead of time.

INGREDIENTS:

1 bunch broccoli, cut into ¾ to 1 inch florets, stems peeled and cut into ½ inch cubes or reserved for another use

½ white or yellow onion, sliced radially into 1/8^th inch wide slices

¼ cup candied ginger, cut into, roughly, 3/16^th inch cubes, tossed with any sugar that may have remained in the bag it came in*

1 tablespoon, or to taste, toasted black sesame seeds**

1 scant teaspoon toasted sesame oil (Look for Kadoya brand, especially the black sesame oil, which has a deeper, nuttier flavor)

½-1 teaspoon soy sauce-look for an artisanally made soy sauce, of one that is lighter in body and not from a cheap manufacturer***

Neutral flavored oil such as grape seed or sunflower oil, as needed

Salt to taste

METHOD:

Fill a large sauté pan (12-14 inches) or pot with water. (If your pan is not big enough to hold the broccoli and water without spilling, use a pot of water and heat your largest sauté pan on a separate burner.) Bring to a boil and when boiling, and a few good sized pinches of salt. Add the broccoli and cook just until the broccoli turns a brighter shade of green and loses its raw taste.

Drain and run cool water over the broccoli to slow the cooking, but not to chill the broccoli. Return the pan to the heat. When hot, film the pan well with oil. When the oil is hot, add the onions and cook, stirring constantly to prevent burning. Once the onions are limp and “clear”, push to the perimeter of the pan and add the sesame oil and soy sauce, and stir in to mix the two. Add the broccoli and stir to coat.

Cook, stirring every 20-30 seconds to heat the broccoli and color it a little. After a minute, add the ginger bits and toss to combine. When the broccoli is hot, scatter with sesame seeds, toss to mix in. Remember, the broccoli should still be bright green, and have some crunch to it. Not cooking the broccoli until it is soft is a key part to this recipes success, so as long as the broccoli is heated up, that is fine. Taste. You might wish to add more soy sauce or sesame seeds. If you wish, you could season with salt if your soy sauce does not give much saltiness to the dish.

Serve right away.

Chef’s Note’s: *Use the flat rounds of candied ginger as they are easier to work with, and do try to find the ginger with the sugar cystals on the outside. They taste good and the sugar caramelizes and adds flavor. Also, if you lightly oil your knife it helps prevent sticking. **Look for these toasted black seeds in Japanese markets. If you cannot find kuro-goma (black sesame seed, in Japanese) use white sesame seeds. Try to find the Japanese ones which come already toasted ease and better flavor.***You can find artisanal soy sauces at Japanese supermarkets and specialty stores. Artisanal shoyu has cleaner flavors with more subtleties to it, and is great on all sorts of things. Cheap shoyu will often have fillers added to them, and they can taste like old molasses, have a briny flavor, or be incredibly salty.

Serves: 4

Source: Chef Andrew E Cohen