In my parents’ Chinese restaurant, Shrimp and Broccoli was one of the most often-ordered dishes. With the combination of healthy broccoli and luxurious shrimp, it’s not surprising!
The original Shrimp and Broccoli is made with a white sauce with garlic, but the vast majority of people modified the order: “make it with brown sauce!”
After making it a few times this past week, I can see why. Nobody can resist that richly-flavored dark brown sauce over their steamy white rice.
How Do You Prepare Shrimp and Broccoli?
A good Shrimp and Broccoli stir-fry is much easier than you think!
- Peel, clean and butterfly the shrimp (or better yet, use pre-cleaned shrimp).
- Cut and wash your broccoli (or again, use pre-cut and pre-washed broccoli).
- Mix your sauce.
- Blanch shrimp and broccoli.
- Everything’s ready for the wok, and in less than 10 minutes, you have a hot and delicious dish that’s just as good—but probably better—than any you’ll get at your local Chinese takeout!
To make it really simple, we’ve outlined some key tips and steps for cooking this dish below.
How Do You Prepare Shrimp for Stir-fry?
First, use frozen shrimp. I think these are best, as they’re flash frozen soon after they’re caught. Nothing’s worse than shrimp that has been thawed and sitting on ice for days or refrozen and thawed multiple times!
You can buy shrimp with the shells on, pre-cleaned, shelled, and/or deveined. I tend to buy shrimp with the shells-on and heads removed. My logic is that the less processing the shrimp underwent before freezing, the better!
Once you remove the shell and tail—taking care with the tail so you don’t lose the tail meat—remove the vein and sand track, as you butterfly the shrimp.
If you’ve purchased pre-shelled, deveined, and butterflied shrimp, you should cut the backs slightly deeper so the shrimp open up to have a nice shape after they’re cooked and can better hold onto the sauce!
While this is a standard method that can apply to most stir-fries, there are exceptions, such as Cantonese Salt and Pepper Shrimp or Shanghai Stir Fried Shrimp, which require special preparation.
How do you marinate and velvet shrimp for stir fry?
As for marinating, good quality fresh shrimp don’t really need much beyond a good rinsing and a thin coating of cornstarch. The light coating provides a velvety texture and, in my opinion, you want to preserve the clean flavor of the shrimp.
Restaurants sometimes soak shrimp in a little bit of sugar and baking soda for a couple hours and give them a good long rinse with cold water.
Baking soda gives the shrimp a crisper texture, and also rinses away any shrimpy taste that can happen if the shrimp aren’t of the highest quality. As with fish, shrimp should not smell fishy. The process used by some restaurants “revitalizes” the shrimp, shall we say. For more detailed information in these techniques, see our article on How to Prepare Shrimp for Chinese cooking.
The Importance of Blanching Shrimp Before Stir-frying
So why do you blanch shrimp—and for that matter, the broccoli as well—before stir frying? There are several reasons for this, some of which may seem counterintuitive, but you’ve just got to trust us on this one.
- Blanching broccoli and shrimp ensures they are cooked more evenly
- It makes the final sauce cleaner and more attractive
- The flavors of the sauce and ingredients are more distinct in the final dish
You’re ready to make an excellent Shrimp and Broccoli Stir Fry now, so start up your rice cooker and man your wok!
Shrimp & Broccoli Recipe Instructions
First, prepare the shrimp and broccoli.
Next, in a medium pot, set 4 cups of water to a boil. While that’s happening, mix the chicken stock, sugar, soy sauces, oyster sauce, sesame oil and white pepper and set aside.
Blanch the broccoli for 30 seconds. Remove and drain.
Let the water return to a boil, and blanch the shrimp for 15 seconds. Remove and drain. The shrimp will be about 60-70% cooked.
Heat the wok over high heat. Pour 2 tablespoons of canola oil around the perimeter of the wok, stir in the garlic, and add the Shaoxing wine.
Next, add the chicken stock mixture. Bring the sauce up to a boil, and add the shrimp and broccoli back to the wok.
Once everything comes to a boil, drizzle in the cornstarch slurry (1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoon water) until the sauce thickens and starts to cling to the shrimp and broccoli.
There should not be any standing sauce, although you can adjust this depending on your personal preference.
Serve with steamed white rice!
Shrimp and Broccoli
Ingredients
- 12 sized 16 to 20 count shrimp (or 12 ounces / 340 grams of whatever shrimp you have on hand; peeled, deveined, and butterflied)
- 10 ounces broccoli florets (285g)
- 1/2 cup low sodium chicken stock (120 ml, warmed)
- 1/4 teaspoon granulated sugar (or brown sugar)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon dark soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1/8 teaspoon white pepper
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 2 cloves garlic (chopped)
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
- 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch (mixed with 2 tablespoons water into a cornstarch slurry)
Instructions
- First, prepare the shrimp and broccoli. Next, in a medium pot, set 4 cups of water to a boil. While that’s happening, mix the chicken stock, sugar, soy sauces, oyster sauce, sesame oil and white pepper and set aside.
- Blanch the broccoli for 30 seconds. Remove and drain. Let the water return to a boil, and blanch the shrimp for 15 seconds. Remove and drain. The shrimp will be about 60-70% cooked.
- Heat the wok over high heat. Pour 2 tablespoons of canola oil around the perimeter of the wok, stir in the garlic, and add the Shaoxing wine. Next, add the chicken stock mixture. Bring the sauce up to a boil, and add the shrimp and broccoli back to the wok.
- Once everything comes to a boil, drizzle in the cornstarch slurry until the sauce thickens and starts to cling to the shrimp and broccoli. There should not be any standing sauce, although you can adjust this depending on your personal preference. Serve with steamed white rice!
AMAZING! I have been craving authentic Chinese-American take out style food since I moved from Georgia. I can’t find a take out place I like in my new home. It has been TWO years since I’ve tasted amazing Chinese-American food. This recipe is BOMB! I followed it and used frozen broccoli instead of fresh because that is what I had already. I didn’t notice a difference. I plan to make every recipe on this ENTIRE site! Thank you soooooo much. I am incredibly happy to have found this site. I really appreciate your thorough explanations, the pictures, and the education about the culture. I LOVE this. I ate my food too fast, but if I could go back in time to relive eating this meal, I would do it over and over again! I have more frozen shrimp and broccoli in the freezer. I may just make this again for dinner tomorrow. Thank you so much, again, for sharing. I feel blessed. :)
Hi Tiarra, thank you for sharing your comments and enjoyment of our shrimp and broccoli recipe :)
I made this with slightly adjusted the portions for two people and it was perfect! Exactly what we were in the mood for and a quick dinner. Went the “extra mile” and blanched the broccoli and shrimp as suggested– definitely worth the extra dishes! I think the whole stir fry tasted much better thanks to this simple step. The sauce was delicious and we finished it with some red pepper flakes for a little kick. Will definitely be working this into the weeknight meal rotation!!
Hi Kat, sounds like you had a good meal :)
So far, all the recipes I have tried are spot on. This is no exception. I am a chef and cookbook collecter. Also, an avid fan of ATK. This site, however, is becoming my go to for Chinese/ Chinese-American recipes. I am trying to amp up my skills in this area, especially because I cook for a living but also because I moved from NY to Florida…enough said!
Hi Lisa, glad you are enjoying our recipes and especially this shrimp with broccoli stirfry :)
This was very good, but the second time I made it, I added ginger to the garlic and it tasted much better. Garlic is often paired with ginger, interested why just garlic?
Hi Kathleen, ginger is one of those aromatics that can be added to just about any recipe if you like it (like garlic), but it doesn’t automatically go into every stir-fry. Sometimes it doesn’t necessarily have to be in the recipe. Definitely feel free to add ginger if that’s what you prefer. Happy cooking!
This was the first time in my life I’ve ever made Chinese food that actually tasted authentic! It was fantastic and I shared the recipe with my family too! Thank you! :)
Excellent to hear you liked this dish rachel. Keep up the great cooking!
We had this for lunch, always cooked Broccoli (my fave veg) in garlic sauce, now i learned different flavor and family loved it. Learning a lot from your site, even sharing your recipes to family and friends. Thank you!!
Hi Marilou, you’re welcome :) in addition to the garlic sauce and brown sauce, you can also use the our all-purpose white sauce to make Shrimp and broccoli as well!
This was very good. I decided to prepare this at the last minute for dinner. The only ingredient I changed was the broccolini I bought a few days ago. The directions were easy to follow.
Hi Zana, broccolini is a luxury and I bet it was good!
LOVE your website and the recipes. Shrimp and broccoli came out so good. Was looking for something different to prepare shrimp and this was just it!
Hi Thanh, thank you so much for saying so and happy to hear you enjoyed our shrimp and broccoli!
Your directions are not clear. You mention a cornstarch slurry, but how to prepare? I mixed the cornstarch with everything else then threw it all in. Not my first rodeo, but you need to clarify for novices. Good idea to blanche before hand. Skipped the wine since I didn’t have it. You should mention substitutes. thanks!
Hi Jane, I clarified the ingredients list to mention that cornstarch mixed with water is the slurry.
Good taste! The sauce didn’t thicken much, but maybe I didn’t measure the cornstarch correctly!! As couples say when they are breaking up, “it’s not you, it’s me”!!
Hi Altie, just make a little extra cornstarch slurry next time ;-)