Iron Rich Food: Beef And Broccoli, With Oyster Sauce

Well, this explains a lot of things.  My visit to the doctor on Friday revealed that I have anemia.  And not  mild anemia.  Oh no, my hemoglobin is half of what it should be, as are the other levels they measured in my blood test. My doctor expressed amazement that I'm not flat on the floor, which alarmed me, as well as making me realize that I'm very stubborn...and stupid.  So, this is why I'm so absent minded, dizzy, and just plain exhausted most of the time. It's also likely the cause of my restless leg syndrome. And the cause of this anemia...well, it's a female thing.  All women hear me now, make sure you're getting enough iron, or you could wind up like me. 

I'm now taking awful tasting iron supplements, and researching iron rich foods on Google.  It so happens that beef and broccoli are both a good source for iron, and this recipe is a favorite of mine.  It tastes like beef and broccoli from Chinese restaurants, but I was able to make it with almost no oil.  And I did that because absent minded, anemic, me forgot to buy oil.

You might be on to the fact that I'm milking the anemia a bit. My cousin was chastising me for something today and I replied, "Hey, I'm anemic, cut me some slack!"  It's no fun being anemic, but it's rather freeing too. I do what I feel like doing, and no one can make me feel lazy or incompetent. 

I'm anemic, so cut me some slack.

By the way, I'm very, very sad at the demise of Tastespotting. I loved going to that site, and hope it will appear again for us all, in whatever fashion they can dream up. If not, thanks for all the lovely photos.

Please note: I have a new e-mail address upsiemom (@) Yahoo (DOT) Com.

Beef And Broccoli, With Oyster Sauce

(Willams-Sonoma)

I found out that I did have any oil or onions!  So, instead of using oil, I sprayed my wok with Pam and did the steps.  It tasted fine to me.

1 lb. flank steak

1 Tbs. cornstarch

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. sugar

1/8 tsp. baking soda

For the sauce:

2 Tbs. oyster sauce

1 Tbs. dark soy sauce

1 Tbs. light soy sauce

1 tsp. peanut oil (I omitted this)

1 tsp. cornstarch

1/2 tsp. sugar

1/8 tsp. freshly ground white pepper

2 cups small broccoli florets

3 Tbs. peanut oil (I used Pam instead)

2 garlic cloves

2 slices fresh ginger, smashed with the side of a
  knife

1 small yellow onion, cut into 1-inch dice (I didn't have this)

1 Tbs. Chinese rice wine

Directions:

Cut the steak across the grain into strips 3 inches long and 1/4 inch thick. In a bowl, stir together the cornstarch, salt, sugar, baking soda and 2 Tbs. water. Add the beef and stir until well mixed. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the sauce: In a bowl, combine the oyster sauce, dark and light soy sauces, peanut oil, cornstarch, sugar, white pepper and 2 Tbs. water. Set aside.

Bring a saucepan three-fourths full of water to a boil over high heat. Add the broccoli florets and blanch until just tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain, rinse under running cold water until cool and drain again. Set aside.

Remove the beef from the bowl and pat dry with paper towels. In a wok or large, deep sauté pan over high heat, warm 2 Tbs. of the peanut oil until very hot.  Add the beef and stir-fry until it just turns opaque, 3 to 4 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, quickly transfer the beef to a sieve placed over a bowl to drain. (Or spray the pan liberally with Pam. Add the garlic and the ginger to the beef and cook it here, instead of the oil later)

Wipe out the pan with paper towels and reheat over high heat. Add the remaining 1 Tbs. oil and heat until very hot. Add the garlic and ginger and stir-fry just until golden brown, 15 to 20 seconds. Using the slotted spoon, remove the garlic and ginger and discard. Add the onion to the pan and stir-fry until just tender, about 5 minutes.  (Or wipe out the pan with paper towels, then spray again with Pam. Add the onion and stir fry)

Pour in the rice wine and deglaze the pan, stirring to scrape up the browned bits from the pan bottom. When the wine has evaporated, add the sauce, stir and bring to a boil. Immediately add the beef and broccoli and stir-fry until the sauce thickens and the beef is heated through, about 3 minutes. Transfer the beef and broccoli to a warmed bowl and serve. Serves 4 to 6.

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Collection Series, Asian, by Farina Wong Kingsley (Simon & Schuster, 2003).

Comments

[Kalyn]

It sounds great to me. Who needs oil or onions. Eat lots of iron rich foods and get better!

[Lydia (The Perfect Pantry)]

Beef and broccoli is one of my favorite Chinese dishes, with or without oil or onions. One thing about those iron supplements -- they can make you a bit, well, constipated. Watch out for that. Hope this does cure your restless leg syndrome, so you can get some sleep.

[Jude]

I'm not sure if you've heard of it, but Tastespotting had just spawned a brand new clone. It's at foodgawker.com. I'm sure your pictures would be more than welcome over there!

[Rosa]

I love oyster sauce when it's pared with beef and broccoli! Delicious!

Cheers,

Rosa

[Baking Soda]

Now that explains a lot! Isn't it funny how relieved you can be when there's a name put to how you feel?
This dish sounds a lot better than those iron supplements. Good going!! Take care!

[kateKate]

That looks delicious; I love a good beef stir fry recipe.

[Katie B.]

Looks delicious!!! (Just be careful - too much iron too fast can be just as...unpleasant...) :)

[Emily]

So sorry to hear about the anemia. Just a note, as I went through that several years ago (though with low ferritin levels -stored iron - rather than low hemoglobin)... Iron pills can take a LONG time to work, as absorption from them is very poor, and ditto for diet changes. Ask your doctor about iron shots. I got iron shots, and while they weren't fun (a shot in the butt every few weeks) -- they very quickly had me feeling like myself again. I was amazed at the difference -- when you're exhausted for so long, sometimes you lose sight of just what you felt like before you got tired!

[Mrs. L]

Sounds very tasty, and since I've been anemic or borderline all my life, maybe I need to make a big batch. And beware, lots of iron can make one, er, blocked...the doc gave me special "softeners" for that. I know TMI!!

[Kevin]

That looks good and sounds tasty. Beef and broccoli is one of my favorite things to order at Chinese restaurants. Hopefully taking all this iron will help you sleep.

[Joy T.]

As someone who suffered with anemia I know what you're feeling. I hope you can get your iron back up to where it belongs and what I used to call 'the fog' is lifted and your energy returns!

[anne]

Your hemoglobin was HALF?! Holy cats, man. That's really low! That's a number wherein the doc gets called in a post-surgical patient... and they're usually bleeding!

I'm glad they found this out so you can begin to address it. I'm sure it's somewhat reassuring to know that there's an explanation for some of how you've been feeling. I wish it wasn't so, but I'm glad you know about it now.

Thinking of you, as always.

[Callipygia]

Well it is alway a relief to me to finally get some answers. This sounds like a tasty way to get your iron, next calves liver with molasses? Here is to de-fogging.

[Glenna]

That really does explain a lot. You've been dragging yourself around for a few months now wondering why your energy level was so low. So glad you found out what it was but sorry you have to have this severe of anemia!!! Hang in there! Just think. If all of us were there in your house we'd make you sit on the couch, eat veggies and FF dip (diet lives on!), watch all the reality tv you want, and we'd gladly wait on you hand and foot.

Hope you feel better soon.

[Maninas]

sorry about your anemia... it is annoying isn't it, lacking in energy? actually, you've made me think... I might have neglected my iron levels lately... and i've been feeling slow, and tired and crap. it may well be that the two are connected. so i look forward to reading more about iron-rich foods! :) thanks!

[littlem]

Oh I have anemia too. You need to take VitC with the iron to help it absorb better. So the broccoli was a good choice to pair with beef!

[Melly]

As usual, your pictures make my mouth drool. Rats about the low iron. I wonder what leached it out of your system? You seem to have a great diet!

[John]

YUM!

[Dondon]

i love beef and broccoli...have u already taste some filipino food? well u better try it and you'll..filipino's are known for a good and fantastic cooking..

[DaviMack]

Blackstrap Molasses is also high in iron - if you can stomach it.

You might also consider adding a B12/Folate pill to your regime, as they help with the whole anemia thing - at least, they do for people with G6PD-related anemia, which is also no fun at all.

Good luck with it!

[jennifer]

Just cook in a cast iron skillet at least once a week. If you cook with vinegar or tomatoes (acidic foods) it boosts the iron content by 2000%!!! You can make this beef and broccoli in a cast iron skillet and I find the taste to be fantastic! You can't really de-glaze, but you can at least cook some of the vegetable or meat and garner similar results.

[Maria Minno]

Tips about iron and anemia:
You can't absorb the iron without Vitamin A and D cofactors. The best source of this is Blue Ice High Vitamin Cod Liver Oil. It's amazing stuff, I can testify. Don't stop taking it, it promotes a feeling of well being and long life. If you don't take the cod liver oil with the iron, you may experience heavy bleeding.
Another (not as good, but really good) aid to iron absorption is yellow dock, the herb. You can take a tincture, 5-10 drops per day, until you reach iron sufficiency.
Also, watch out for iron supplements that are chelated to amino acids. They can cause brain damage. The best I can find is Standard Process Ferrofood.
If you are severely iron deficient, your tongue will be shiny. When it gets a nice thin white coating on it, you will know your strategy worked, and you are iron-sufficient.