This colourful, flavourful dish features two of my favourite ingredients: Chick Peas and Broccoli. And it’s doused in a rich sauce based on honey, Soy Sauce and Sesame oil. This is a magical dish that even Broccoli haters will love – if you can get them to try it!
If this dish wasn’t so easy to make, I’d still love it! And what the sauce does to Broccoli is nothing short of magic. At least it will seem so, to folks who are tremulous about Broccoli!
Secret’s in the sauce…
So take care, and make it the first time exactly as instructed in Taylor Ann Spencer‘s detailed recipe. This classic, authentic Asian sticky sauce will remind you of Ginger Chicken and other swavoury Asian dishes you’ve had.
The secret to the sauce is taking care with the ingredients. You can tweak the amounts another time. But start with the proportions Spencer specifies to get the hang of how an Asian sticky sauce works. Success depends not only on the honey, but the cornstarch for thickening. And it needs to be simmered longer than you might think to reach that glossy, thick, sticky consistency everybody loves.
Baking soda?
You might wonder why Spencer wants you to add baking soda to the dish. It’s an old chef’s trick to loosen the chickpeas’ skins and tenderize the beans themselves. You can add baki9ng soda to any bowl of dried beans you’re soaking overnight to achieve the same effect with them.
Be prepared!
Spencer cautions that this dish is a classic stir-fry, and the pace of preparation accelerate dramat-ically as the climax draws near. She suggests you lean on the classic French practice of mise en place – digging out and measuring out all the ingredients before you start.
“Make sure the sauce is fully assembled, the chickpeas are drained and rinsed, and the baking soda is right beside you […] before turning on the heat. Don’t be that person frantically running around the kitchen while the chickpeas burn!”
Spencer also says not to skimp on the Broccoli. Some folks have told her the amount she specifies is a bit much. But… “Chickpeas, while small, are very filling, and having a decent amount of cruciferous greens balances them out. Also, the broccoli absorbs all the extra sauce like a sponge, which, for me, actually becomes the best part. So load it in there…”
And that last point is also one of the secrets that makes this dish acceptable – maybe even loved – by career Broccoli non-fans…
My take
Serve this dish over rice or noodles, and you’ve got a complete nutritional protein plus the broccoli – a superfood most of us don’t eat enough of!
~ Maggie J.