Broccoli with Sausages is a dish you can prepare on weeknights, with your eyes closed.
There are many ways to cook broccoli florets, I must say. You can steam them, boil them, roast them or more sinfully, fry them. I have used them in a stir-fry here, because I just needed a quick fix vegetable dish on the table for dinner. Also, I am a huge proponent of using frozen ingredients in the kitchen, so you won’t be surprised that my broccoli florets came out of the freezer. For the sake of reference, I bought them from Song Fish Market, the frozen-food store you can find in many malls around the island.
Sausages
I have used chorizo sausages here (NTUC deli section), because broccoli on its own is pretty bland. While it goes great with Soy and Chilli, there needs to be a little something in the pan to give it a push, flavour wise. Chorizo sausages are extremely versatile in the kitchen. These Spanish sausages contain (usually) minced pork that has been aged and cured in a host of different spices. This makes the meat so tender and also, spicy.
Actual chorizo, the kind bought from Artisan markets in Singapore, does not require any oil to cook it. You can just slice it or chop it up and throw the chunks of sausage into a hot pan. The oils in the sausage will start to seep out as it cooks, leaving a heaven-scented, spicy perfume in the pan. This then becomes the perfect flavouring agent to cook other ingredients. I’ve done something similar with the broccoli here, depending heavily on the flavours from the sausage to spice things up.
You can always choose to use other types of meat, or even vegetarian or vegan substitutes. Also, feel free to take advantage of the broccoli’s barrenness by adding chilli padi, ginger/garlic, mushrooms, onions, miso, mirrin… I mean – go for it!
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
- 1 Medium Onion, peeled and thinly sliced
- 2 Cloves Garlic, peeled and thinly sliced (or minced)
- ½ Inch Piece Ginger, peeled and thinly sliced (or minced)
- ½ Chorizo Sausage, sliced into thin moons
- 400g Frozen Broccoli Florets, blanched
- Salt and Pepper, to taste
Method
- Heat the oil in a heavy-based pan, or non stick skillet over medium heat. Add the onions to the hot oil and saute till soft and translucent, about 2 to 3 mins. Then, add the ginger and garlic. If you’re adding chilli padi, now would be the time to do so. Continue to let the ingredients mingle. Soon, there’ll be a very inviting umami fragrance wafting up from the mixture.
- Add the sausage slices. These will take barely 2 minutes to cook, after which you can add the blanched broccoli to stir through. At this point, you can add soy sauce, if you’d like to flavour the greens this way. Otherwise, add the salt and pepper.
- Serve warm with rice, as a side dish.
