Marinate, cook, dinner!

This last week, I made 2 protein dishes to feed us throughout the work week.
The first one was pork chops and the second was salmon steaks.

Both were so easy, because I just put the pork chops and salmon steaks in (separate) ziploc bags, and added marinade to the bag, and the let meat marinate for a couple of nights.
When I was ready to eat, we grilled the pork chops on our outdoor grill.  And we baked the salmon steaks on a sheet pan in the oven at 465 degrees for 18 minutes.

What marinade did I use?

For the pork chops, I used a combination of bottled "char siu" marinade from the Asian grocery store and hoison sauce. 
For the salmon steaks, I simply marinated the steaks in teriyaki sauce.  That's all.  I typically make my own teriyaki sauce, but I was feeling lazy, so I used the bottled stuff as well.

(Big thanks to Lucy for buying me lots of yummy groceries, including as the char siu marinde and the salmon steaks).

Both the char siu pork chops and the salmon teriyaki can be enjoyed with steamed rice and sauteed green veggies.  so asian!  just the way I like it!

 the char siu pork chops, hot off the outdoor grill!

the teriyaki salmon steaks, hot out of the oven!
These could be made on the outdoor grill as well, but I was too lazy to take out the grill 2 times during the week!

Is broccoli beef considered chinese food?

I never really considered "broccoli beef" a Chinese dish.  I always joked that it was "bastardized Chinese food made by Americans".  but hey, what do I know.  Sorry if I insulted some Chinese region's most notable dish. hehe

Doesn't matter.  It sure tastes good.  I mean... broccoli, beef, how can you go wrong?

I got the idea to cook this dish when my friend Lucy made the dish herself.  A lot of times, when I hear of all these wonderful dishes, I want to cook it, but when no one reminds me of the dishes, then I forget, and I fall back on basic dishes that I make over and over again.
So I was glad to switch it up and make broccoli beef for the first time in several years.

I added a twist to the broccoli beef and threw in some crimini mushrooms that were sitting in the fridge, waiting to be eaten.

You first slice up the beef across the grain, then I mix in tapioca starch, to give it the thicker, gooier, texture that is common in Chinese dishes, and marinated the meat in some soy sauce and xiaoxing cooking wine.

I cut up the broccoli and boil it until al dente.
In a skillet, stir fry the broccoli until almost done, add in the sliced mushroom and boiled broccoli.  Top it all off with oyster sauce.


I always get greedy when I cook and make a huge pot full that is too full to stir, unless I want to get broccoli beef all over the kitchen floor.  =/


I don't know where all the gravy came from actually.  Maybe it was from the water trapped in the broccoli florets when I boiled it.