PrintBeef cooked chinese style
Why is it that when I cook beef it doesn't taste like authentic? It's silly I know but it tastes too beefy. Can someone please tell me where i'm going wrong.
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9 Comments:
Three things to remember:
1) Slice it thin. 1/8" think is almost too thick but it'll do.
2) Stir-fry it over rather high heat, moving it constantly. Watch a professional wok cook sometime and you'll see they never stop moving what's in the wok.
3) Keep it wet, never letting it dry out.
HTH!
LunaPierCook at 8:52AM on 04/16/08
Springboarding off LPC - To slice beef that thin, you might want to par-freeze it. You have to finesse it though because it can go from soft/raw to frozen/brick in no time. I think the rule of thumb is 20/30 minutes.
Could it also be the cuts you're using? If you use top shelf beef, "beefyness" is considered a good thing.
chiff0nade at 10:11AM on 04/16/08
Perhaps the marinade has something to do with it too. Do you use cornstarch in your beef slices marinade?
Sweetie at 10:23AM on 04/16/08
I think I know what you are trying to acheive, because I've wondered the same thing.
The answer is: WOK BREATH
I've also heard it called wok hay.
That is the flavor the wok imparts to food. You need a well cured wok and you need about 60,000 btu's directed to the bottom of your wok.
I'm joking about the btu's, I don't know a btu from an amp; however, I do know that the intense heat in Chinese restaurant wok stations is vital to the flavor of certain dishes.
wookie at 2:34PM on 04/16/08
Wok Hay is the pronounciation of Wok breath in Cantonese. My mom is forever complaining that the electric stove top she has isn't hot enough for decent wok hay. You really do need a gas stove.
At a good chinese restaurant, if you are near the kitchen, you can hear it. If it sounds like there is a fire breathing dragon in the kitchen, your chances of a good chinese meal increases.
You don't really need to freeze the meat to cut beef thin (though it certain makes it easier). You need a really sharp chinese cleaver, press the meat, cut parallel to your hand across against the grain.
We always marinade our meat overnight for stir frying. Usually soy sauce, starch, a bit of cold water, white pepper.
I am not sure what cut of beef is usually used, because in chinese it's just BEEFand label as such with no english translation most of the time. I think it might be eye of round.
It's the same with Pork, the stuff we buy regular for cooking is just label pork. I still don't know what it is... I usually buy tenderloin, I had some in the freezer, took some to defrost to make chinese meat loaf as per request of my visiting parents. My mom saw it and told me not to waste the good "pork chop" on meat loaf.
gnomatic at 4:31PM on 04/16/08
I thank you all for your comments. I did add cornstarch and used a wok which has a flat base and is non stick tefal, I have in the past used the orental type wok but it needs a lot of loving care as it can go rusty. I have a gas stove. I bought some beef steak from the supermarket and cut it straight down which i think is not the right direction. I will endeavour and hopefully will get it right in the end. Today I bought a lovely chinese cook book from the charity shop for £2.50 a bargain called Regional Chinese Cookbook by Kenneth Lo.
immaculate55 at 6:33PM on 04/16/08
If you slice the meat across the grain and diagonally, on a bit of a slant instead of straight down you get a more tender piece of meat with a lot more surface area.
This might be the kind of meat you're more used to seeing in Chinese restaurants instead of thicker slices or chunks.
In this house, we use a lot of beef flank steak prepared this way.
fuuchan at 11:50PM on 04/16/08
Maybe I'm wrong, but for me the associated "wok flavor," or "wok hay" as some say, comes from igniting the cooking oil with the heat source while tossing the food. I've seen a lot of referrals to the actual seasoning of the wok but if you've ever ignited cooking oil then you know the associated smell is equal to that of the "wok flavor."
Asado at 12:39AM on 04/17/08
I think in alot of chinese takeaway restaurants, they flash fry the meat first before stir frying. We don't do that with home cooking.
My mom used to drag me to Chinatown to shop, under the pretense of teaching me about chinese food (but really so I would carry the bags for her). But being a teenager, I was not thrill with these lessons nor did I pay attention. I sure do regret it now, especially since I don't really read chinese. I wish someone would translate what chinese cuts of meats are into their English equivalent . Preferably with pictures :D
gnomatic at 3:00AM on 04/17/08