Ooh! I was at the Guild of Food Writers Awards on Tuesday, and not only did I score some free Tenderstem Broccoli, but my food idol Yotam Ottolenghi SQUEEZED MY SHOULDER. Yes, I am not joking. I was chatting to Sarit Packer & Itamar Srulovich of Honey & Co and Yotam came up to talk to them too, and leaned on my shoulder in a very friendly fashion. He then gave my shoulder a little squeeze.
He obviously mistook me for someone he knew…
So last year when I went to the Guild Awards I got so smashed on wine that I was just about the last man standing. Next morning I awoke bleary eyed to find 20 packets of Tenderstem Broccoli strewn around my hallway.
I wasn’t complaining, because I love it. So I was very pleased to get a gift of some more on Tuesday which I cooked up to Yul’s recipe for my dinner tonight. I used 215g broccoli and ate the lot. For that amount of broccoli I halved all the other ingredients in the recipe below. It was absolutely delicious!
There was a disgraceful bit of kitchen behaviour as nobody was looking after I’d eaten all the broccoli. I DRANK the remaining soy sauce / sherry dressing from the bowl, like my Austrian friend Corinna always does with the salad dressing. Next time I make this I will be more civilised and make a bit of rice to soak it up.
This recipe is from the brilliant Yul Brynner Cookbook.
1 bunch of broccoli
4 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons dry sherry
1 teaspoon sugar
1 fresh red chilli pepper, or dried chilli pepper to taste
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 clove garlic
1 slice fresh ginger (about 1” across), minced, or ¼ teaspoon powdered ginger
½ cup cooked shredded roast pork (optional)*
Separate broccoli into spears; trim off bottom of spears. Stream broccoli until spears are almost cooked but are still firm. Set aside. Mix together soy, sherry, and sugar. Cut chilli pepper into thin slices and add to liquid; set aside. Heat oil in wok or heavy skillet. Saute garlic and ginger for one minute, add broccoli spears, and stir one minute. Pour sauce over broccoli and stir one minute. If you wish, garnish with roast pork. (Serves 4)
It was probably healthier and less calorific to just swig it down! Glad you had a lovely evening. The broccoli sounds yummy–I might make it (without the sugar, of course)!
Yep, it would still be good without the sugar for sure!