Healthy Biltong Recipes by Gary O’Hanlon
#05 – Irish Biltong & Tenderstem Broccoli in Sweet Soy with Sesame & Nut Crumble

What Gary says about this dish …
“Tenderstem broccoli or even regular broccoli for that matter is one of my favourite vegetables to eat. It wasn’t until I was in a professional kitchen environment at 14 ‘til I really started to appreciate vegetables and the flavor they can offer a dish. Like most of you, I’m partial to the odd Chinese din dins and I’ve often eaten peppered beef and broccoli so I guess you could say there was a little inspiration taken from one of those blow outs.”
“You’d be amazed though at the difference in flavour should you ever attempt to recreate some take away favourites at home using top quality Irish ingredients. For all the dishes I’ve created with the incredible Irish Biltong range this is right up there in terms of my favourite. Trust me when I tell you that this wee cracker went down a treat on shoot day! If you like heat go with the Chilli Biltong and ramp up the fresh chilli quota also. I always say a recipe should be a guide once you’ve mastered the basics so have at it and drop in other bits and pieces should they be lurking in the bottom of your fridge. Serve this as a side dish or straight up as a main course as I have here.”
Ingredients
24 tenderstem broccoli
(blanched in boiling salted water and then into iced water, set aside)
100g Biltong
Drizzle of vegetable oil
1 white onion, sliced
1 red chilli, sliced
50ml water
2tsp cornflour
2tbspn honey
1tbspn rice wine vinegar
1tbspn soy sauce
handful salted peanuts, roughly crushed
2tbspn sesame seeds, toasted
juice of 1 lime
4 lime wedges
Method
Heat a wok and add in the vegetable oil. Sweat the onion and chilli without colour, season.
Add in the blanched broccoli and continue to sauté until the broccoli warms. Add in the water and soy sauce followed by the vinegar. Bring to the boil and add in the cornflour. Mix the cornflour in well and add in the honey & lime juice.
Now add in the Biltong and simmer for three minutes. Adjust seasoning then serve family style in a large oval platter and finish with a coating of salted peanuts,toasted sesame seeds & lime wedges.
Serves 4 adults as a main course.
Enjoy!


Gary O'Hanlon
Chef, TV & Radio Broadcaster and Columnist