Grilled Broccoli With Soy Sauce, Maple Syrup and Balsamic Vinegar

By Sam Sifton

Grilled Broccoli With Soy Sauce, Maple Syrup and Balsamic Vinegar
David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Prop Stylist: Paige Hicks.
Rating
4(1,851)
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This is a no-recipe recipe, a recipe without an ingredients list or steps. It invites you to improvise in the kitchen.

This is good one to have in your back pocket when you’re cooking burgers and dogs on the grill; it’s a no-recipe version of a dish that I first learned of from the Brooklyn restaurateur Joe Carroll. Toss broccoli florets in equal parts soy sauce and balsamic vinegar, a generous dash of maple syrup and a splash of neutral oil, then grill (or broil) until they’re soft and crunchy. Serve them under a scattering of red-pepper flakes and sesame seeds, or use furikake, a Japanese seasoning blend that contains, in addition to sesame, chopped seaweed, sugar, salt and, occasionally, monosodium glutamate. Never mind hot dogs or anything else, actually. I could go for that broccoli on white rice and call it dinner, full stop.

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4 out of 5
1,851 user ratings
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Comments

Chrissy

It would be nice to also give an actual recipe for those who might need it. For some folks, even a 4 ingredient recipe might be daunting. Something like: -2 tbsp soy sauce + 2 tbsp balsamic + 1 tbsp maple syrup + 1 tsp oil-- or something like that, for those who might need a little more rails around them. It would make a good cheat sheet for those of us trying to cook off the rails a little, but who are worried we might be far off the map.

Courtney

Is it wrong to start eating the smaller florets right out of the pan while waiting for the larger ones to cook? Do I have to share?

Tim

I love these no-recipe recipes but it would be SUPER helpful if you formatted the text (bold the amounts and ingredients). Very hard to skim while planning/cooking.

David B.

Easy and tasty. Added mushrooms and birdseye chilis. Took 14 minutes in the broiler. Flipped about halfway. Added a little more sauce at the end.

Laura H.

Didn’t care for this at all. I used two tablespoons each of soy sauce and balsamic vinegar and one tablespoon of maple syrup, with maybe half a tablespoon of oil, and marinated it for maybe ten minutes. It had very little flavor. I guess I could have marinated it for longer, but I wouldn’t bother making it again, as Ali Slagle’s recipe with mustard and red wine vinegar is far better and just as easy.

Elhadji

What is gained by making this a "no-recipe recipe"? There are non-negotiable ingredients (so important they're in the title) -- why not list them? There is a process -- why not write it in steps? There is obviously a desirable sauce:broccoli ratio -- why not share the measurements? Presenting a recipe in an unstructured, unreadable way makes it harder to improvise, not easier (what we educators call "misplaced rigor"). Anyone wanting to experiment won't let a standard recipe get in his way.

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