#ewew cooks Chargrilled Broccoli with Pork

Since someone is waiting with bated breath for me to blog about my latest broccoli dish...her wish is my command (lol), so let me fast track that post to the top of the list then.  For the longest time, I've never really liked broccoli (would much rather eat cauliflower) until I discovered the deliciousness of roasting them (from the same someone) and that's where my love of broccoli started.  My son, on the other hand, prefers broccoli (from the start) over cauliflower (he says he likes the texture of the furry-like buds on the broccoli florets)...the very thing I didn't like at first.

My usual (and only) way of making them is to roast them in the oven to make roasted vegetable salad (together with other vegetables like capsicum and cauliflower) as that's the only way I like to eat broccoli. This I did regularly but you can only pair roasted broccoli if you're having a western-type meal.  Blanching and stir-frying them in Chinese-style cooking is not delicious at all even if there's enough seasoning as it still turns out too bland.  That's why I don't eat broccoli at Chinese sit-down dinners where they're usually blanched and appears as the vegetable component (or sometimes even as a decoration) in a braised dish (those are not only bland tasting but sometimes hard in texture as well).

So, I had to think of some other way of cooking it other than roasting as western meals don't feature as regularly in our daily meals as Chinese meals would.  I had tried stir-frying them and they also turned out not really that exciting since the vegetable itself tastes bland even with extra seasoning.  In the end, I knew I still had to get that charred flavour into the broccoli to make it taste good in a dish you can eat with rice, so that's how my Chargrilled Broccoli with Pork came into existence.

You start by marinating the thinly sliced pork slices with freshly cracked black pepper (lots of it, and I usually just pound the peppercorns in my small pestle & mortar coz that's faster if you need a lot), soy sauce and cornflour (or tapioca starch).....and leave in the fridge until needed.

The next step is to steam the cut up broccoli florets for 5 - 8 minutes (take note that 8 minutes will render the broccoli quite soft, so steam it for 5 minutes if you don't like it too soft bearing in mind that the broccoli will be twice-cooked).  I steamed mine for 8 minutes.  Drain away any water (that's left behind from the steaming) and let the broccoli dry completely (so this should be done ahead of time to let it have sufficient time to dry).  This is crucial in the next step of cooking since wet broccoli tends to steam (and release water) when stir-fried.

Once the broccoli is completely dry, lay the broccoli in one layer over a medium hot pan that has been drizzled with some oil and let it char for between 7 - 10 minutes depending on how well charred you want your broccoli.  If you need to cook a big portion, you'll need to cook them in two batches to ensure the broccoli lies in a single layer in the pan for optimum charring.

The key to a good charring is patience and to resist stirring the broccoli around but let it sear undisturbed for a good 1 - 2 minutes before flipping.  Moving it too much and you'll just end up stir-frying the broccoli instead of charring it.  Once you see the charring happening, then flip the vegetables every now and then.  At this point, you can season the broccoli with just a tiny bit of salt to get the flavours going.

When the charring is almost at the level you want, add in the chopped garlic.  Don't add it in the beginning or your garlic will be burnt by the time your broccoli is done charring.  Once the garlic is nicely browned, transfer the chargrilled vegetables onto a plate and set aside.

Drizzle a bit more oil onto the pan and add the marinated pork slices flat down on the pan to sear/char. Again, resist the temptation of stir-frying and moving them around too much.  The soy sauce in the marinade will help the pork slices achieve a beautiful browning.

Once done, return the charred broccoli into the pan, season to taste with oyster sauce and a bit of light soy sauce.  You can also use a bit of salt or chicken stock granules as seasoning.  Reinforce with more freshly pounded black peppercorns, if required.

Note that because the broccoli needs time to achieve the desired grilled marks, so they'll be cooking for a substantial amount of time in the pan thereby making the broccoli very soft.  That's how both my son and I like it...super soft.  But if you like your broccoli a bit firmer, make sure you steam it for less time (say 5 minutes) or you can even forego the steaming part all together.  Try out a few ways to see what texture suits you (like the one above I did earlier turned out a bit too soft coz I didn't let it dry completely before chargrilling).

What you'll end up with is a broccoli dish where the broccoli is savoury from the soy and oyster sauce seasoning as well as tasty from the infused chargrilled taste.  The well-browned pork slices, with the help of the cornflour/tapioca starch marinade, have a really tender texture too. ^o^

The amount of black pepper you use further amplifies the flavour of the broccoli and pork...and it really depends on how much or how little you want to put (we like lots of it).  If you want a bit of sauce with your dish, then make a cornflour slurry and add that in at the end.  We didn't coz my son likes it dry...and, of course, leaving it dry enhances the grilled flavour in the broccoli even more.

If you like, you can even add on some carrots and capsicums or switch the pork with beef and you'll know the black pepper works just as well with beef.  Or you might even want to cook it as a stand-alone vegetable dish.

Who new a western-style salad of roasted broccoli can also be adapted to become a Chinese dish of chargrilled broccoli itself (or with pork) which you can pair with rice...and the flavour works really well with black pepper.

This has now become my son's favourite vegetable dish.  Needless to say I've been cooking this often.  He says he can eat just this one dish alone and I can understand why coz it's one of those dishes that's perfect as a one-dish meal.  Well, I certainly won't mind cooking only one dish...just need a little time and patience to get the broccoli to char nicely.

Next time you're looking to make a one-dish meal complete with meat and veggies (and broccoli happens to be a your favourite veggie), you may want to consider cooking this.  You can bulk up on the portion of broccoli and pork (or beef)...and have that with a small bowl of rice (like we did) or even totally forego the rice for a carb-less meal. ^_~